Staying in San Fernando

Christmas week was good for visiting, but slow for lessons. We have started teaching the law of the fast again, and have asked the members to pray and fast for someone to come to mind that we could teach. We also want to start house meetings, where the members invite friends and neighbors over and we share a message or a video and have refreshments. We hope this will be a good way to share the gospel with more people.

One of our investigators will be getting baptized on January the 18th! We are so excited for her. She truly is amazing and so prepared to hear and accept this gospel. I know that the gospel will bless her life tremendously, as it has mine! I am so excited for her!

We got our transfer assignments on Friday and transfers are this Wednesday, but Sister Herrick and I weren't effected. I already love our new senior couple, the Batemans. They are from Levan, Utah, I wonder if Grandpa knows them. They are really sweet. We helped them clean when they moved in to their apartment, so last night they had us over for dinner to repay us for our help. It was good to have an American home-cooked meal...other than turkey and ham that is ;) 

I hope you all had a great Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

Love ya lots!
Sister Bratt

The Joys of Christmas

We are really looking forward to talking to our families tomorrow! How blessed we are to be able to not just call, but to video chat as well! We will be meeting for a Christmas meal and taking turns talking to our families at home. We are so blessed to have the truths of the gospel in our lives! What a joy to be able to share those truths with others! I hope everyone is having a joyous Christmas season!

Love,
Kelsie

The Message of the Restoration - One of the greatest gifts we can give!

Are you enjoying your Christmas break yet? I know it has started here, so now more people are home during the day, hopefully that will help us to meet more people who will listen to the message of the Restoration. The gospel truly is one of the greatest gifts we can give to our friends and family for Christmas. It is the only thing that will bring us true and eternal happiness. That sounds like a great idea that the missionaries are doing in your area! We will have to try something like that here to get the members involved. 

Our new senior couple is moving in this week. We are excited to meet them and to work with them. 

We have a small, foot tall, Charlie Brown Christmas tree in our apartment that our investigator gave us. We cut out some paper snow flakes for it and added on the ornaments that we made yesterday when we helped in primary. They were little kits that they had for the kids to make and there were extra, so we each got one. It is made of red and green foam with a place to write the year and a place in the middle where we made a little finger-print reindeer. They're cute. 

Hope you are enjoying the Christmas Season!

I love ya lots, 

Sister Bratt  

                                                              Christmas Message - Christmas Treats

Serving brings the Christmas Spirit

We had the opportunity to do some service this week for a couple of investigators that helped to put me in the Christmas spirit. We scraped paint off of a wall so that they could repaint it as well as helping another lady prepare things for a kids Christmas party she put on for less-fortunate children.

Our investigators who have baptism dates are doing amazingly well. They were both at church this Sunday. One of them already wants to join the choir and asked the relief society president if she could help with the newsletter because she is good with graphics. We love her so much and can't wait for her to be baptized.

We had a fantastic ward Christmas Party on Saturday that had a great turn out. There were about 150 people total, more than the bishop says he has ever seen in that building. Everyone seemed to have a great time; there was just enough food, the program was fun, and the kids got to see Santa. For the program, each group (relief society, elders quorum, yw, primary, seminary, ysa, etc.) did a little presentation. Sister Herrick and I sang with the yw and the relief society, as well as the choir at the end for the nativity skit. It was a fun night. The primary was really cute. They acted out the Christmas Carol, and did an amazing job. Also, a little boy about 2 years old sang a song called "put Jesus in your Christmas" and "We wish you a merry Christmas." He was SUPER cute!

I love you all and hope you have a great week! 

Sister Bratt

Happy December!!!!

Happy December!!!! I am adjusting well to Trinidad. We are still working with our amazing investigator who has a baptism date for the 28th of December. We also have the husband of a member in the ward who we are working with. He has been working with the missionaries for a while now, but is finally close to baptism. His date is the 28th as well. He is determined to be baptized by the end of the year. One of the elders' investigators was just baptized with her 9 year old son on Saturday after being taught for many years. It strengthened my testimony of never giving up on people, and trusting in the Lord's timing. We may not be the one to baptize the people we teach, but we are still making a difference.

I love you all!

Have a great December!

Sister Bratt

Thanksgiving was wonderful!! We were spoiled!!

New Area - New Companion!!

Well, here I am in Trinidad! Sister Herrick and her temp, Sister Lewis picked me up from the airport and then we dropped Sister Lewis off at her home in Port of Spain. She is 17, is the only member of her family, and has only been baptized for about a year, but she still chose to give 3 months to serve a mini mission. I really admire her and all the other local people who have done similarly over the years. After dropping her off we stopped by the mission office before making our way over to our area in San Fernando. Our apartment is a big change from my last one. It is very...quaint. lol. No, it is small, but it has everything we really need, a kitchen, a bedroom with a table for studies and a bunkbed to sleep on, and a small bathroom. We also have a washer and dryer outside our apartment which is nice. Our landlord is really nice and makes sure we are safe and taken care of. The elders have been staying in this apartment for years now, so if they can do it so can we! lol. I'm already used to it. 

 Our first few days of work here have been great. There are struggles, but it is refreshing to have a new place and new people to work with and around. I love the members here that I have met so far. They are so sweet. Church yesterday was fun because the Young women did their Young Women in Excellence program during sacrament meeting. They gave talks and testimonies and sang some musical numbers. It was really special. We also had a great investigator at church. She is the biggest sweetheart. Sister Herrick and Sister Lewis met her a week or so ago, and had only taught her once when I got here. So we taught her again on Wednesday, and I already love her. She is very prepared to hear this gospel. I think she loved church and she mentioned how impressed she was with how welcome the members made her feel. She already said that she would be back next week. 

 Sister Herrick is a fantastic companion. She is so loving and fun, but also hardworking. She is great with people and loves to talk to everyone. We are getting along really well, and I know we will work well togother. She has been out for about 9 months now, so she is about half way through her mission. She is great!

I miss the beauty of the island life, but Trinidad has its own beauty. It is nice to be in a little more developed country. So far I have tried two different types of roti, doubles, and what they call palouri. They are all good, but some have a bit too much spice for my liking. My stomach isn't used to it and neither are my taste buds! But I'll acclimate. Members feed us more here than in St. Vincent. We will be eating our first Thanksgiving at the mission home this afternoon after going caroling with all the missionaries. Then on Thanksgiving day we were invited to the Bishop's mother-in-law's house for dinner. She also lets the missionaries skype at her house on Christmas! :) Our bishop is an american who as an RM married a girl from Trinidad who came to study in the states. They got married and then ended up moving here so he could work for her family's company. They are a sweet family with two kids ages 9 and 11. I love and am thankful for you all! And wish you all a happy Thanksgiving!

Sister Bratt

Last Week in St Vincent - Transferring to Trinidad

I'll start with the biggest news first. We got our transfer calls on Saturday and....I'm going to Trinidad! I will miss the people here with all my heart. I will be serving in a city called San Fernando. I don't know much about it, but my Zone leader here served there, and he said he loved it. He wants to go back before his mission is up. It is the second biggest city in Trinidad I think about 45 minutes from Port of Spain where the mission home is. My new companion's name is Sister Herrick. I met her briefly when I was leaving Trinidad to come to St. Vincent. She was in Trinidad for her first two transfers and then Barbados. Now she is back in Trinidad, but in a different area. She has been there for one transfer with a temp missionary. The area was just opened to Sisters, and she seems to be loving it (according to the APs). I look forward to the new experience and to working with a new Sister that has been here for some time so that I can continue to learn and grow as a missionary. I will miss Sister Bennie. She is nervous about taking over the area, but she will do great and she will have an awesome companion, Sister Taylor, who has been on her mission longer than all the sisters in the mission. It was hard saying goodbye to everyone this week, and I still have a few more goodbyes to come, but I know it is for the best. 

Today we went to Bequia! I'm glad I got to go before I leave St. Vincent. It was a fun experience. It is a beautiful island. I took lots of pictures, but I don't know if they will all load this week. We went "over-seas," as they say here, on the ferry to Bequia. It is an hour ride, and when we got there we took some "taxi's," trucks with seats and roofs built in, around the island. They took us to an old fort, a turtle sanctuary, and a beach with lots of conch shells. It was a fun day, but tiring as well. 

I was sort of hoping to stay here in St Vincent for Christmas, but if the Lord needs me in Trinidad, then there must be a reason. So I will happily go. I hope you have a great week!

I love you all,

Sister Bratt

(Editor's note: Sister Bratt sent a lot of pics of the people of St Vincent who she loves and will miss dearly. I am not sure about posting their pics on this blog without permission. Will check first.)

Recovered & Feeling the Christmas Spirit

This week was much better. I was back to my normal self and have made a full recovery. We worked all week, but took it slow at first, coming in if I was tired. I kept hydrated and am feeling as good as new.  We worked diligently and trusted in the Lord to lead us to new people to teach this week and were thus able to find some great people. I look forward to continuing to teach them and will let you know if any of them progress.

I am starting to get really into the Christmas spirit. Today we went to Sandy Bay again to visit our Branch president and his wife. They served their mission in Sister Bennie's branch and he was her branch president for a while there as well, so they wanted her to come see their place. On the drive there and back (it takes about an hour on really windy roads) we listened to Christmas music. We have also been singing Christmas hymns in district meeting the past few weeks. I don't know where I will be for Christmas. Transfers are a week from this Wednesday so I could be moved. Even though I would love to stay here where I know and love the members and missionaries, I will go where the Lord wants me to go.

I hope you are all doing well, the work is progressing according to our faith and diligence, so we are pressing forward.

I love you all!

Sister Bratt   

Dengue Fever

Wow, this week was very eventful. I am doing a lot better, and will most likely get back to work this week, but there were a few bumps in the road to recovery. On Thursday I woke up with my hands itching and hurting, so I went to the doctor. She had me go get another blood test to compare with the other one, and there were complications. I don't know what caused it for sure, I was most likely dehydrated, but I ended up fainting and convulsing for a minute after they drew my blood. So the doctor sent me to the hospital to get an IV to re-hydrate me and we sat for about 5 hours waiting before I got hooked up to one. The hospital isn't very efficient, and I truly hope to avoid another trip there. After being at the hospital for 7 hours they told me the results of my blood test showed low platelets or something and they wanted to keep me over night, but Sister Bird wouldn't leave me there, so we signed a waiver and left. I have been fine since, just taking it easy and relaxing. But the next day the doctor called and said the the blood test showed that I had dengue fever. I guess that is what caused both the fever and the rash. Everything is clearing up now though, and I feel almost as good as new.

I hope everything there is going well. I love you, and miss you lots!

Love, 

Sister Bratt 

Zone Conference

Zone Conference was good. Sister Charters and Elder Fiame were there (they were in the MTC with me), but sister Bennie and I didn't' get to go out with the Sisters because they live too far from where we were staying. We did get to stay with the senior couple there though, the Gartz, and they are great! They are super sweet. President Mehr got dizzy right when he was meant to speak to us, so he had to go lay down. He let the assistants go ahead with their portion, and then eventually they ended up teaching his as well, because he went to the hospital to make sure all was well. It turned out that it was, but they kept him over night just to be safe. So we didn't get interviewed by him either. He will be making a special trip to St. Vincent to do that in a couple of weeks. So, it wasn't quite what I expected, but it was a good little getaway. 

I felt well enough yesterday to go celebrate St. Vincent's independence with the branch members at the beach. We had a good time eating and talking. The elders missed the memo that it was at a beach so they showed up in full procelyting clothes! Lol! They still played games with the kids though, which was fun to watch.

Friday was Sister Bennie's 20th birthday and I ruined it by getting sick. But I did ask our investigator friends to save her some curry and rotti (her favorite food from home), so I don't think it was all bad. ;)

Well, I love you all, thanks for all the pictures. Will is such a handsome little man at the pumpkin patch. What happened to his eye? And AJ and Kaden sure are cute little brothers. 

Love,

Sister Bratt


                                                                     Trip to St Lucia for Zone Conference

St Vincent Independence Day -- Ward Celebration

Serving with Love

Even though we didn't have a very good week in terms of numbers and actual traceable progress, we had a few great opportunities to serve this week. We went to see our investigators on Thursday, and they were busy trying to get their house in order. Apparently the tremor the other week cracked one of the pipes in their bathroom and caused pretty bad flooding under their carpet all throughout the house. So they had to pull up all the carpet which caused them to find a whole lot of cockroaches living underneath. So they sprayed the roaches, cleaned up, and when we got there, they were in the process of painting the floors because they can't afford tiles. So we got the opportunity to help them paint and show that we care. Even though we didn't teach a lesson, it was awesome. 

We also had the chance to visit two less actives in the hospital on Saturday. One is a very old member who has been less active almost as long as he has been a member. He is an amputee which makes it hard to come to church. I hadn't met him before, but we tried to go see him on Friday and found out he was in the hospital for surgery. So, we wanted to go visit him and let him know we care. Then, Friday night, we found out that one of our members, who is sort of less active, was at the hospital with her seven year old daughter who got pneumonia after having the flu. She wanted the elders to come give her a blessing, so she got in touch with us and we informed them. It was amazing to hear about the improvement of the little girl's health after that blessing was administered. She had been there for 3 days unable to eat, sleep, or move because of the pain, but immediately after the blessing, she was able to sleep and the next day was up and walking around; even laughing. The people in the pediatrics unit who had seen how sick she was and how quickly she changed were all amazed. The priesthood is real, and I am so grateful for it. 

I miss everyone, but I know that I have an important work here to do. 

Love you lots!

I'll let you know next week about how St. Lucia is. We leave in a few hours. 

Sister Bratt

                                                    Helping paint the floor after a pipe broke 

                                                       and flooded our investigator's home.

Visiting in the hospital. She is doing so much better after receiving a priesthood blessing!                  

                                                            Our Branch Building

The Church Building in Kingstown

The caterpillars that eat all of the leaves off the trees.

 

Pineapples Growing  -- I didn't realize this is how they grew.

Selling Lobsters on the roadside.