To Become Like Him

July 13th--My 1 Year Anniversary in the Mission!!!

Hola Familia y Amigos!!!
Well this week has been great!!!  A week filled of lessons, weird things, and amazing things!

Tuesday morning was pretty rough and as I got to DM, Hna Orantes ran and hugged me and said you are not ok!  And I just started crying because I wasn't.  It's amazing how much the adversary works on us through whatever trial to get us down but God ALWAYS blesses us with tender mercies and angels around us to bear us up!  She and the other sisters had prepared this big glittery sign with a box and treats, etc all saying HAPPY 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!!!  It was so so nice of them to do that early :)  So we were in the middle of DM and I was just down and they asked us to do a practice so I just said I was going to forget our problems and focus on the investigator and the Spirit.  I don't think I've ever felt the Spirit more strongly in a practice, and it was just such a tender mercy to me and confirmation that the Lord is aware of me and loves me and that I still have the Spirit and power and authority even when I feel like I don't or am down.  Satan's stupid.  So it was great and then President Amaya came to our Zone meeting which was crazy and he wanted to speak for a bit.  He talked about the importance of following the example of Jesus Christ and becoming more like Him in who we are.  He shared wonderful scriptures and counsel and then blessings.  The Spirit was SO strong and it was so edifying and uplifting and loving, and I was just astounded and so grateful because it's been a long long time since I've felt like that when Pres speaks. So grateful!  He shared D&C 76:5 and said that the Lord LOVES honoring those who righteously serve Him.  He said He will honor us--can you imagine that?!  And then gave some examples of those blessings and honors.  Afterwards, he talked to us and let us know that if the ward doesn't treat us right, or something happens, to please let him know because he said the ward should recognize who we are and treat us as such.  It was very nice.
Anyway, we had a great lesson with Jonathan and then went over to visit Angela and the girls.  Angela told us that it's so nice when we come over because she can feel light, peace, and like we are part of the family, and it was so neat to hear her express all that.  As they were preparing something for us to eat, they put on The Other Side of Heaven (so cool--every day they listen to hymns, watch mormon messages and other church movies or videos.  I love them!).  As we watched the beginning parts where John Groberg was leaving for his mission, I just started crying, remembering all those feelings one year before and thinking on my experiences and how grateful I am, and just all the emotions that come with it (haha sorry Dallin I haven't changed--you still have family members who cry.)

Wednesday was the 1 year anniversary of being set apart as a missionary.  We had an interesting experience with a Jehovah's Witness taxista, and I couldn't stand his accusations any longer of being a Satan's church, blah blah blah,  no matter what we shared with him, so I finally cut him off and said I didn't want to hear anymore and just bore my testimony.  Every time we bore our testimonies he got like mad or riled up.  You tell me who or what is Satan buddy!  haha Poor guy, but I couldn't stand him saying stuff like that about the truth and God and just bore strong testimony, and I am glad that every testimony we bear is recorded by the angels in the heavens for one day when we all get up there. :)
Wednesday Jonathan had his interview and passed and we were so super excited because we didn't know if he would for some reasons but he did!  He was way excited.

Thursday was one of the craziest and weirdest days of my whole mission, though it started off great!  By chance, or mejor dicho, by tender mercy, 3 key songs came on while we were listening to music in the morning.  Hna Alvarez has a CD like jam packed with songs, and it was way cool how it happened.  Child of Light came on (our farewell song and one that means a ton to my family and especially my brother and I serving the mish), then Send Me (EFY 2000--I had no idea it was an EFY song but it was the song at the MTC our very first night there that touched me so much), then Healing Waters (which we listened to all the time at night our first 2 daysin Ecuador before receiving our trainers).  Awesome songs and milestones in my mish.
We had an amazing planning session and comp inventory, and it was crazy because as we talked through one last situation, it was like finally EVERYTHING clicked with us.  We had worked for 5.5 weeks struggling through our companionship and trying to be more Christlike and patient and charitable and understanding and communicate, etc. and finally, finally the Lord blessed us for that and has blessed us to love each other and serve each other and feel that from each other, and I feel SO so so beyond blessed.

So I don't feel like going into details of everything that happened to us, but it was crazy weird things that happened to us that delayed us for 2.5 hours where we couldn't get to some of our lessons, and we were so confused as to why, and the bishop was mad because we didn't make it to where Douglas and Mayra and he were waiting for us, etc but Hna Alvarez and I both felt like it was so dramatic and long--the situation to prevent us from going somewhere-- and we felt the Lord had protected us from something and put in our paths other members--people we trusted.  It was a different experience, but just trust that the Lord protected us!

Friday was our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!  So crazy.  Hna Johansen called in the morning and it was so great to hear her voice even for just a few mins while helping her find a phone number.  Hna Alvarez made sure to want to make my day special and so we went and got breakfast and just shared stories and laughed a lot.   The ward missionaries accompanied us and some even changed their plans to be there to accompany us all day!  We love those kids :)  We had an amazing lesson with Kenny and just felt the Spirit SO strongly guiding us in that lesson--that our words were not ours and the questions or comments we said were completely guided.  What a blessing.  We felt strongly that he will progress and serve a misson.  Cool impressions.  I had a really neat experience helping Kevin through a hard time. He is facing tons of opposition (as we all do right before going on a mish--he is waiting for his call) and especially gets down that he is the only active member of his fam and it was so neat being able to share our experiences of overcoming that opposition and the blessings and miracles that happen in the mission and what awaits him as well!  He regained his happiness and animo and was able to realize what he needs to do, and Hna Alvarez and I feel strongly that it is NOT a coincidence that these missionaries are here at this time preparing while we are here.  I know that is one of the reasons we needed to be here---to help them in this critical time and we feel so grateful--it's so rewarding.
We had an awesome lesson with Douglas and Mayra---they want to be baptized and get married and so we are working with them hard to be able to accomplish that!  The ward is going to help out too, so that will be great.  Eduardo their son will be baptized this coming Saturday and he is so excited!  They are just so great.
Hna Alvarez, Kevin, and Christian, another ward missionary bought pizza to celebrate my one year anniversary and the song that was playing was I Will Be There by Michael Jackson (hahahahaha Jess and Caity remember our plans for this song???)
It was such a great day and I felt so loved and supported, and the Spirit was so strong in all of our lessons and we were just blessed all day.

Saturday we had lunch with Kevin's cousin's family. The family Izquierdo.  They were married in the temple, he had served a mission, and had all the dreams and hopes of their kids serving missions and being married in the temple, etc.  The oldest is 21 and doesn't want to serve, the second is 20 and got married cuz he fell in love with a nonmember, the 18 year old says he is preparing for a mish but is not at all, and then the other 2 are little.  The parents have so much sadness and grief and heartache over these situations, and the sister was just crying sharing her feelings and the dad was just broken.  We shared scriptures and prayers and God's love.  That would be so hard--to have to deal with such a different vision than we all imagine as we do righteous things.
We then went to do service with Douglas and Mayra and brought 3 ward missionaries and we helped make platano empanadas.  Let me tell you first of all that Saturday was one of the sunniest, hottest days ever.  So we went to work peeling platanos for a long time.  It was crazy and something I will NEVER forget, absolutely dying of heat, peeling platanos as our hands were getting stained and sticky, and literally sweat was just dripping down my face and all my makeup came off, and it was just sick and disgusting and hilarious at the same time thinking how much I will never forget expriences like that, serving out of love and enjoying it, and sharing that with others. I am so grateful for the mission!  There is a pic of Hna Alvarez, me, and Kevin doing the final part of the empanadas--kneading the dough :)
Saturday was also Jonathan's baptism!  Yay!  He was happy and it was a bit of a different baptism but the important thing is he got baptized.
Sunday was so great to be able to renew our covenants through the sacrament.  This week I learned that, "Cuando participamos de la Santa Cena, no solo renovamos nuestros convenios bautismales, sino todos los convenios que se han concertado con el Senor." Wow!!  It's like going to the temple every week too!!!  I never ever knew that, and it made me so happy and blessed and I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to renew my temple covenants yesterday in church.  That changed my world about the Sacrament.
Fabian came to visit me in our ward and it was so great to see familiar and awesome faces of great people I love!
Douglas and Mayra came with their whole family and the high counsel guy speaking directed a lot of his talk to them which was cool!  They have a lot of support in the ward and I feel so excited and blessed to see their changes and be a part of this.  Mayra has changed so much, and opens up, is loving and nice and accepting, and wanting to learn and change.

Well I have felt since Pres´s talk and even before that I've needed to learn a lot about being more Christlike.  I know that is what I had to learn with my companionship, and now He is blessing us.  I get it now---the whole point of the mission is really to become like Him. While doing so, we bless the lives of other people, but also lay the eternal foundation for our own lives.  I loved the part of the VT message in the Ensign this month, "Llama a Sus discipulos a trabajar con El en Su ministerio, brindandoles asi la oportunidad de servir a los demas y de llegar a ser mas como El."
Christ calls us to BE His disciples and to work WITH Him in His labor.  Through that, He gives us the opportunity to serve others, but in turn,  we become more like Him. What a privilege and blessing!
I know that Christ lives and loves us.  We have the potential to become like Him and if we so desire, He will help us in the process.  I know that every struggle is for a reason and He molds and purifies us until we reflect His light and His life, being examples of Him at all times and in all things and in all places.  What mercy and grace He gives us if we so ask.
I love Him.  and I love serving with Him in this work.

Love you!!  Have a great week!!
Love,
Hermana Bryan

Kevin, Me, and Hermana Alvarez making Empanadas to raise money for Douglas and Mayra's Wedding!!!