Week 20!

Dear Family,

Well, from now on my emails are going to be on Tusedays!  My mission president changed the day on us and now P-days end at 5.  It's a little weird, but not to bad of a difference.  We have a little more free time now Monday as we don't have to write our families.

This week, through a little bit of peer pressure from my district leader, I gave a talk in sacrament meeting!   I only had two days to prepare, two days full of missionary work, but luckily my companion helped me translate it correctly from English to Spanish.  Ahh, it was a little bit nerve wracking, but I think we are seeing a couple fruits from it, as one member wants us to go visit a less active with her that we've never met.

We had to go to San Jose two days this week, one day fore a multizone conference and another day to get my companions cedula.  Both days we returned home with out any time to do missionary work.  Thus, a ton of low numbers for this week , well all of our numbers plummeted. Though we can't use our days in San Jose as a complete excuse.  But we are determined to change things around this week.  

Tuesday we woke up at 3:00 am.  We had plans to travel 45 mins in bus to a member's house to do service.  Our district leader told us we had to wake up at 3 am in order to have our 4 hours of study first.  Around 6 am he texted us to ask what time we woke up.  We said 3 and then he told us "Sorry!  I was kidding when I said you had to wake up at 3, I forgot to tell you."  Ai!  Elderes!  Fortunately I didn't get mad, just shook my head, not surprised.  Our district leader likes to joke a lot.

We were planning on tiling a building for service, but in the end we just ended up washing chairs.  I was a bit disappointed.  I miss doing construction in Mexico! Dad you'll have to tell everyone "hi" for me there.  The next December save room for me please!  :)

We had a baptism this Sunday!  The mom of Gretel, Melba,  was baptized, she was so sweet and happy to be baptized.  Although Gretel didn't come to church which was weird.  She told us she'd explain why later.  I think she's having problems with her husband.  Alejandro wasn't confirmed, but we are still trying!  His brother is trying to confuse him a ton. Alejandro wants us to preach to his entire street using a microphone! He also doesn't want any members to visit him, only us.  It's a bit difficult.  Raquel and her children are practically begging in the streets now.  It's a little bit sad.  We want to help them, but's there's not anything we can do.  I feel bad for her daughters mostly, they are already taking after their mom's example.  Parent's have such a big responsibility to teach their children the right ways!   Thank you Mom and Dad for the amazing example you have always been to me!

Hermana Samayoa loves to laugh, she just laughs and laughs and laughs.  Though sometimes I have no idea why she's laughing it helps keep the stress down, which is nice!

In 3 days I'll have 6 months in the mission!  CRAZY.

Les quiero, les quiero, les quiero!

Hermana Bratt

Melba's Baptism

Me With an Avocado

I'm a Tica!

Dear Family,

This week we had to go to San Jose or Cartago three times, it was awful! Because when we return we always feel tired or sick from the curves in the bus.  The trip to Turrialba is like an amusement ride...only not so amusing!

This week we had a lot of problems with our investigators and I just kept on thinking "I'm only 19!  How am I supposed to solve all of these crisis'?" A little lost about what to do I decided to read my notes about Captain Moroni and how to be a leader (an assignment from my mission president that he gave us).  The first thing I read was that he was called to be the captain of the entire army at age 25!  It was a light slap in the face from Heavenly Father I think :)

Wednesday Alejandro called us and said that he'd had a really bad day, but realized why and that we was going to be confirmed Sunday.  We were super happy and he was too...until he called us Friday during a weekly planning session and said that he wasn't going to be confirmed anymore because he wasn't going to live in Turrialba anymore and he had to work, etc., and that if we wanted to talk to him we had to go to his house right then.  Frustrated we dropped what we were doing to visit him.  His reasons for not coming to church were good excuses, but they were still excuses.  And well, I got so frustrated with him that I started crying and yelling at him at the same time!  Okay, I wasn't exactly yelling, only practically.  After five minutes of pounding him with my words I turned to my companion and said "Do you have anything to say?  No?  Okay then we share this in the name of Jesus Christ amen.  Hermana Gretel can you  offer the prayer?"  And then we booked it out of there!

I also said things like "I didn't waste four months of my mission for you not to be confirmed" and "If you don't get confirmed you won't enter the kingdom of God!"  It was pretty bad.  He called us yesterday and apologized for his attitude, I apologized too, but I don't really feel bad for what I did.  I was so frustrated with him!  But that's why I still have a year left on my mission, to learn to have more Christlike attributes.  Obviously I'm still working on having patience.

Other quick things that happened:

• We had five investigators in church.  Yay!
• We have a new investigator that keeps breaking out in religious songs when we teach him.
• I received my cedula!  I'm a Tica!
• Gretel's mom is going to be baptized this coming Sunday!  She used to be Evangelist?  Evangelica, and even though we've taught her how to pray correctly she still bursts out with "Sí Señor, Sí!  Bendicelo Señor, Bendicelo!" during  all our prayes, including the ones said during sacrament meeting!

One thing I love is about my life is that more and more often my companion and I are speaking with the Spirit and in unity.  The feelings I get when the Spirit is testifying through me are amazing!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!!!!!!!! I love you, love you, love you!  Thank you for EVERYTHING!

Hermana Bratt

My Companion...well she's trying to cook panqueques!

Soy Tica!

Week 17? I Need to Have Better Title Than This.

Dear Family,

Today we went to the president's home for P-day.  It was my companions "Cheque de Mez". When we were on our way back a car in front of us got in an accident and so we had to wait for forever!  We were in the bus for four hours, and definitely stir crazy by the time we arrived in Turrialba!  I don't have much time as P-day ended 40 minutes ago, but here's a quick update:

About two weeks ago my companion and I contacted almost all of the less actives in a part of our area.  We were kind of discouraged when we only found one person of about15 houses willing to let us in.  However on Friday we were trying to find the house of an LPE in the same area when we took a wrong turn.  When we were about to retrace our steps a woman shouted something like: "Hey don't be afraid, you can pass us. We aren't bad"   We turned back and started talking to her and the group of people she was with.  They were drinking beer and I wasn't exactly thrilled to be talking to them, but my companion started  up a conversation.  It turns out that this woman, Keren, is a less active of eight years and that she's not in our ward directory because before she lived in San Jose.  She was drinking beer but my companion said very directly "You can change, you need to come to church, you shouldn't be drinking beer."  And Keren agreed with my companion and accepted us into her home.  Though she hasn't been to church in eight years she told us that she is ready to change her life around and fix it up a bit.  She also has two daughters, one of which is really interested in our message.  It was definitely a miracle!

I love my companion!  She's growing a lot and we are having a lot of great experiences together.  I don't want the next transfer to come!

Gretel was baptized Sunday!  But Alejandro arrived too late to be confirmed.  He's also having problems because his brother is against us and is trying to confuse him.  He doesn't want to return to church, but we have faith.

If the whole mission has 200 baptisms this month they are going to split the mission next year!  Yay!

Love you all, thank you for all your emails I received a ton, but don't have time to respond this week.

Les Quiero

Hermana Bratt.