The Power of Conversion (9 Months)

The 22nd was my 9 month mark in the mission! I'm already half-way done, I can't believe it. Before I know it I will be at a year like Sister Herrick, and those last 6 months will fly by. We are really trying our best to work hard so that we can go home with no regrets and a satisfaction that we have done our best in the work. Things can be slow, but we are working hard to pick them back up and keep moving forward. 

We had another great lesson with our investigator yesterday. She hasn't really gotten a strong conviction in the past that Joseph Smith was a prophet, so we were inspired to bring the Joseph Smith, Prophet of the Restoration movie to share with her to help her to visualize better the events that made up the restoration of this gospel. However, we didn't know how truly inspired we were to bring that video until after we showed it to her. She became emotional during a few parts that really struck her and had her feeling the Spirit the most, and afterwords she thanked us for bringing the movie. She told us how she has been praying for some sort of sign or confirmation that what we have been teaching her is true, and that she felt in her heart during the movie that it is. She knows that it was an answer to her prayers, and that God does love her, something she was unsure of when we first met her a couple of months ago. It was a huge step for her on the path of conversion, and we were blessed to witness it. This gospel has already changed her so much. I can tell that she is more happy and at peace in life just since we met her. I know that she has truly been prepared for us to bring the truth to her at this time. We are truly humbled to be witnesses and instruments in her conversion.

Carnival week is coming up the first weekend/week of March. It is already crazy sometimes with people partying and gearing up for the big event. Last night we accidentally drove through an area that had apparently just finished it's children's carnival, and it was madness, with people everywhere, but we made it through eventually. We will be staying inside on Monday and Tuesday of next week, so I will email on Wednesday so don't worry if you don't get an email from me on Monday. We will also be changing apartments on Saturday this week so it is going to be busy. 

Love,

Sister Bratt

Answers to Prayers

This week wasn't the greatest. Sister Herrick was still overcoming her sickness the first of the week, so we didn't get a lot done. She is doing a lot better now. We had a really low day on Saturday, when our only progressing investigator randomly decided to drop us, and we realized that we had no one to work with. That was hard for us both. However, through prayer and the Lord's help, we had a much better day on Sunday. He really helped us see that we aren't at a complete standstill in the work. We had a surprise in the morning when our only other real investigator, showed up at church for the first time since we started teaching her a couple of months ago. She only stayed for sacrament meeting, but enjoyed it and I think she felt the Spirit. We visited her later that day with our recent convert, Donnaliez, and they really hit it off. They have a lot in common and were able to relate well in their situations. Our investigator expressed that she will "definitely be at church next week" and that she will be staying the entire time. She also excepted a baptismal commitment for her birthday in April. All of this truly was a miracle and an answer to our prayers, because we had recently been questioning whether she was truly prepared and interested at this time; we got our answer! The Lord had to bring us low so that we could be humble and see how blessed we really are with those we are teaching. I know He will continue to help us find those like our investigator and Donnaleiz who are prepared and searching for this gospel. We will, with His help, get the work going again here in San Fernando. 

Love,
Sister Bratt

Staying in Sando

This week was slow. Sister Herrick has been sick this weekend, with what, we aren't sure. Probably just a virus. We are hoping she get's better soon. But at least we found out that we will still be together next transfer, so we have plenty of time to get her back to health and to get back to work in our area. :) We were happy when we heard the news on Friday that we are both staying. There were a lot of changes throughout the mission this time, so we were lucky to stay together.

Have a great Valentines day and know that you are all my Valentines! Haha!

Love,

Sister Bratt

It's a Small World

We had a good week here in Sando (San Fernando). Our investigator is still doing well. We got to see her Sunday afternoon and she had a friend join in our lesson. She seemed to like what she heard, so we are going to try to teach her as well. That was a great blessing. 

There were a couple of cool things that happened this week. Sister and Elder Bird were here on Friday, and though I didn't get to see them, I talked to Sister Bird on the phone for a bit and got to catch up on whats happening in St. Vincent. They met our senior couple for lunch by the mission office and Sister Bird told Sister Bateman a crazy story to relay to me. It requires a bit of background information. So, when I went to the hospital in St. Vincent and was waiting so long for my IV to be hooked up, there was a man who was rushed through the ER with his arm dripping blood. They took him into a room for a long time, but since I was there waiting so long, we saw when he came out. Sister Small was with us, and she asked him what happened to his arm. He told her at he and another man were fighting over a women and it resulted in his arm being chopped up with the other guys cutlas (machete like knife they use for everything here).  So, flash forward to Sister Bird's part of the story, She went to church in the Kingstown Branch sometime after that incident, and saw a man and his family who she hadn't met before. In talking to them she found out that they had recently gotten baptized. Well, she noticed that his arm was bandaged or scared (I'm not sure which) and came to find out that it was that same guy! He won the girl he was fighting for, and they were married and then baptized! I don't know how much time elapsed between all these event, because I heard the story second hand, but it was really cool to hear! Small world, huh?

Anyway, another thing that showed us how small the world is was when we met a man who has been living in Florida for years with his family. He saw us on the street and knew immediately who we were because his family was all baptized in the States except for him. His youngest daughter went to BYU for a couple of years, and the missionaries come to his house all the time in the US. He said his wife goes out with the Sisters in his area to help them teach because she speaks spanish and english, so she helps them teach. It was really cool to talk to him and see what has held him back from joining his family in the church. I wish I could say that we were able to have a greater impact on him than we did, but he has his own views and isn't really ready to budge on them yet. He is a really nice guy. I feel sad for him that he is missing out on the blessings of this gospel, and especially sad for his family who are waiting anxiously for him to join them so that they can be sealed together in the Temple for all eternity. It reminded me of how important this work is and what is at stake if people choose to reject what we share. They may not see the importance, but we do, so we have to try to help them as best we can. 

I love you all
Sister Bratt