Wow I don't think I can say enough THANK-YOU´s for ALL the birthday wishes and emails, and I wish I had time to send thank you's back to each and every one of you, but please know how much your emails and wishes touched my day and brought tears to my eyes and smiles to my face and made me feel so much love and joy. How blessed I am to know and love you all!! Wow thank you!!!
Monday we went and visited Gustavo (Hna Jo's convert) and felt the Spirit SO strongly and left feeling SO joyful (Hna Alvarez and I.) We walked away just hugging each other and said to each other, "THIS is what the mish is about!!! NOT P-day!" We both hadn't wanted p-day and wanted to just work and feel the joy! It was wonderful to feel that.
We also got to see the ward missionaries teach part of a lesson for the first time and then give testimony and it's so great seeing their progress.
Tuesday we got a surprise that we couldn't go to DM because my visa was going to expire and we had to go to the governmental buildings. We got there and waited forever only to find out they couldn't attend us and we had to be back the next day at 7am. So we lost inspiration and awesome testimonies and the Spirit for nothing. I also hadn't slept the night before AT ALL (I think wayyyyy too much sometimes without recognizing it haha) and so Tuesday was a rough day for me. The Lord tried my patience a LOT that day and I learned a lot of my weaknesses and the patience and charity of my comp. What a blessing. Also the Lord ALWAYS provides here! We basically started this week without new people and without references because everyone has been baptized, but just had faith the Lord would provide. The Lord gave us and put in our paths 3 refs and new people on Tuesday without us even trying hard to find them. Wow.
Also Tuesday (after much calling and asking from our parts, we finally found Angela's registro from her baptism 20 yrs ago and found out she would be able to go to the temple just like I had testified to her the Friday before and felt strongly I needed to tell her that, and then we worked to make it happen and she was so excited she bought new clothes and shoes to go to the temple! wow)
Wednesday we got to go visit Mayra and Douglas for the first time after their baptism and entering in that house was such a difference! We entered and felt light and joy and the Spirit. What a blessing. Such light and joy! We started repassing the BOM what they had read and after 2 verses Douglas remembered everything and briefly and BEASTLY summed it up and his fav parts and then just smugly said, "Bueno sigamos con la lectura." bahahahaha We were DYING laughing and it was such joy seeing them reading the BOM and loving it and just so awesome to see that family and their change!
Also something I forgot to talk about last week was on Sunday when we had nobody, we were pretty distracted because of some things and frustrated and just wanted to find more of God's elect, and so we turned our backs to the jovenes accompanying us and said a prayer (Hna Alvarez and I) and I prayed hard that the Lord would guide us and indicate to us where to go by His Spirit to find one of His elect. Just at that moment we heard the loud beastly voice of the guy who sells Morocho (arroz con leche hot drink here) yell out and we turned to each other and bolted running. This guy walks SO FAST so we had to run the whole way to catch up to him. I'm pretty sure Kevin and his cousin David and the girl accompanying us will never forget the missionaries without saying anything, bolting off chasing the Morocho man to talk to him. Moises is his name and he shared with us his life and how he ruined his life with drugs and how he decided to start over and basically is alone because of everything he did but knows God will bless him and loves him. It was so awesome and we saw his light and longing to feel God's love and purpose here. Well that was Sunday. Monday we saw him and gave him a BOM and explained briefly and gave testimony. We basically teach him briefly in the streets--it's awesome. Wednesday we saw him again and he told us he had read the BOM every single morning and night and remembered everything! Wow the BOM does have power and we have seen such a difference in the light in his eyes and he told us he has felt so much happier! I hope the missionaries that live in his area contact him soon but we are teaching him briefly every time we see him in the streets and it's such a feeling of PURE JOY everytime we see him and his happiness that comes from this gospel! It changes lives and brings joy and love into our hearts. What a blessing!
Thursday I was fighting off feelings of being down with changes and leaving these people and how much I love them and how much I miss our converts and seeing them all the time and so grateful for the miracles of the mission! Well we had an awesome awesome awesome comp inventory and we were both crying and recognized how much the Lord has blessed us to truly develop an eternal friendship and companionship. It was incredible thinking back to our first few weeks together and seeing her now and seeing her progress---what joy and what a blessing it is to see that and have been able to have a very small part in that!
Also Thursday (and every day before that) we had gone to the niños Peter, Jose, and Maria Fernanda and it was incredible to go on Thurs and have Peter (the 10 year old) tell us he is in 1 Nephi 20. Alone. Wow!!!! These kids are so so special and awesome.
Friday we received 2 refs from Sergio--two 16 year old kids who are relatives of his who decided to come to Ecuador and change their lives and somehow got in contact with Sergio and he is helping them with everything. Amazing stories and amazing references and blessings of the Lord that he just hands us references and new people and places us at the EXACT time they will be there and run into us. So blessed! We felt the Spirit SO strongly with them! Also we went to Jonathan our recent convert and he was having such a hard time being depressed and struggling with problems, etc and I felt strongly that Kevin and Christian (the ward missionaries) could give him a blessing so I suggested it and they got surprised because they never had done it which I figured, so we pulled out the handy dandy manual misional and they performed their first blessing of comfort. The Spirit was very strong. Later on Kevin was just smiling and laughing and saying he is so much happier and has felt God's love so much more lately and just smiled and thanked me for everything we have done and how it's hilarious how all his friends know that he spends his time accompanying us. He never imagined that.
Also a miracle when we went to visit los niños, was their parents were there waiting to give us ice cream. Wow that was a blessing---the mom was pretty hard hearted and a non member and slowly has warmed up to us and the dad is a menos activo guy who is married to someone else but living with the mom of these kids and so it's a hard situation and there are lots of family problems but the Lord is touching their hearts through their angel children!
Saturday we had the baptismal interviews of the niños and they passed and were so happy! We got to chill and chat with Elder Falk which is always awesome.
Saturday was a stressful day BUT Maria Fernanda, Peter, and Jose got baptized!!!!! It was incredible because Eduardo spoke at the baptism and it was SO cute seeing him and seeing Mayra and Douglas worrying and helping him practice and praising him and hugging him like crazy after he spoke and did a wonderful job. What a family and what a blessing to witness that miracle!
We completed our goal for August in the first week (3). The Lord is so great and we are just gunna keep looking for more but just going out and working and letting Him do the rest. That has been the key.
I never thought I would feel like this in the mission. I always thought it would remain way hard and hard work and fights to find and baptize people. I feel so blessed and astounded as to why the Lord saw it fit to bless me so much in this area. We literally don't have to contact hardly at all---He hand places people in our paths (mostly refs from the ward) and helps us as long as we follow the Spirit, He directs our paths and really does miracles here. What a blessing to be merely the instrument. I don't feel like we do anything but leave the house, want to work, try to follow the Spirit, and love. Nada mas. I truly feel so so blessed.
Studies this week:
I loved this quote in Jesus the Christ about Christ's disciples and it applies to us as we strive to do the work of the Lord as mere human beings yet children of the Divine:
"The Master chose them. They did not choose themselves. By Him they were ordained, and they could in consequence rely the more implicitly upon His guidance and support. To them much was given. Much of them was required...He recognized in each the characteristics of fitness developed in the primeval world of Spirits."
1 Nephi 7:17 and while listening to Elder Bednar's talk about being a PMG missionary, Nephi understood the enabling power of grace. He didn't pray for his situation to change. Rather, he prayed for the strength to change his situation!
"Only by doing the will of the Father is the saving grace of the Son obtainable."
1 Nephi 11:20-22--just by focusing on and witnessing Christ, Nephi felt and understood the love of God and the meaning of that love. All just because he saw and felt of Christ. We understand immediately upon centering and focusing on Christ and feeling His redeeming love.
I testify that God loves us. He lives! We are His children! What a blessing to have something so divine living within each of us! Our job is to recognize that divinity and make it grow until that becomes us and He purifies us to become like Him. The joy that comes from living and loving the Gospel is indescribable. What a blessing! What a miracle to be here. What a miracle to LOVE these people and have my heart and life forever changed and impressed by these people and my experiences. How great is my God. I LOVE Him! Please do the things in your lives to bring about this joy and love in your hearts and lives. Give your heart and life to Him and let the miracles flow. He is so merciful and I feel so grateful and humbled by His miracles in my life and my mission. Love bursting for sure :)
Thanks for everything--for your prayers, thoughts, examples, lives, love.
I love you and thanks for your birthday wishes! Have a GREAT week!!!
Love,
Hermana Bryan
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