The Lord is truly aware of all of His children

This week went by pretty fast. Before we know it the Transfer will be over. It is crazy how fast time flies on the mission when you lose yourself in the work. The week came with its struggles and challenges, as they all do, but it was also filled with blessings and tender mercies from the Lord. We continue to work hard in our area of San Fernando to bring others unto Christ through the waters of baptism. Thanks for all of your support and prayers for us here. We see answers to prayers, both ours and yours I'm sure, each day. The Lord is truly aware of us and all of his children.

We had the great blessing to witness two baptisms this weekend. One was the baptism of an entire family, mom, dad, and 3 girls, in the Chaguanas branch. Sister Taufu'i taught them while she was in that area, but they have been receiving the lessons for quite a while from different missionaries. Their family was remodeling the mission home, so that is how they came in contact with the church. President and Sister Mehr have taught them in their home on many occasions as well. So, finally they made the decision to be baptized. We got permission to go to it; what a beautiful, spiritual experience that was! I sent some of the pictures I took of them and the sisters who taught them. Another cool thing was that a senior couple that went home a year or so ago, who worked with them when they were here as well, were able to be back visiting this weekend and so the husband was able to baptize this family. It was very special.

The second baptism was here in San Fernando. It the mother of a long time member of our ward. She has been coming to church and activities off and on for years, but never met with the missionaries. Her son, wanted to wait to have them teach her when she was ready to be baptized. He and his friend/home teaching companion have been teaching her, and just a couple of weeks ago, he approached the Elders in his area, and told them that she was ready to be baptized! So, they "taught" her the lessons, she already knew everything, and she was baptized this Saturday. She invited the entire ward as well as many family members and friends. It was cool to see her enthusiasm and excitement to make this step. She was truly prepared! She chose her own date, made her own baptism programs, organized all the food that was to be served after, invited everyone she knows, and pulled together a wonderful baptismal service. The spirit was very strong as we watched her son baptize her! 

The last event of this week was the "Men can Cook, Too" activity that the Elders Quorum put on for the relief society sisters and the rest of the ward. They cooked a fancy dinner and served it out to us while wearing cute chef's hats and aprons. There was a great turnout of members and nonmembers, though none of Sister Taufu'i and my investigators could make it. The ward here is very strong, but can still do better and grow stronger, which I believe that it is. 

Love,

Sister Bratt

Easter Message

The Monday after Easter is a holiday here, so things were closed. We moved our P-day to today. Glad to hear that you had a good Easter. We did here too, even though it was different than I'm used to. What better way to spend it than in the service of the Lord? It really helped me to remember the true meaning of the season. I was thinking about how we didn't have any Easter egg hunt or things like that, but I realized that the hunt we did go on was one of a much greater value and importance; a hunt for souls to save. It was cool to think of it that way and to remember that the message we bring to people is only possible through what Christ did so many years ago just for us. I am grateful for this special Easter that I have had, for it truly was a once in a lifetime opportunity. (btw, we didn't color eggs either. we were going to, but then we realized that all the eggs here are brown...haha!)

Love,
Sister Bratt

Conference, Car Trouble and a Soggy Phone

This week was a good one. We really enjoyed watching all 6 sessions of Conference here at the church via satellite. We didn't have any investigators come which was sad, because we know they would have loved it. We will have to share with them what they missed out on. There weren't very many members there either, the most came on Sunday morning. They do have the ability to watch it online at home, so we hope that those who didn't come to the church were watching it at home. I for one learned so much from the talks that were given! How special was that to have all the women from 8 and up involved in the women's conference! 

Today was a crazy p-day. We had the intention to get going early and get things done so that we could do a bit of clothes shopping after. But, when we went to start the car it wouldn't start. The engine kept turning over. So, we walked to an email shop while we waited for Brother Kotiah to come. He works on all the mission cars here in Trinidad. So we got part of our email time then, but had to walk back to meet him, so now we are finishing up. It turns out that the battery had dried up...who knew that could happen!....I guess more people should, because it would have saved us a lot of trouble if we had been checking it. So he switched us batteries until he can get us a new one and got some battery water to fill it with for the time being. THEN, sister Taufu'i accidentally dropped our phone in the sink while the water is running, so it won't turn on. It is weird not having a phone or knowing what time it is....I forgot to find where I have my extra watch, the one I was using started losing time. So, today has been an adventure! But, hopefully we can still get everything done and have time to relax. :)

Love,
Sister Bratt

Diligence and Tender Mercies

This week has been a hard but good one. It was hard to change companions, but the Lord knows what's best. I have really seen that this week as I have been with Sister Taufu'i. She is a great missionary who knows how to work diligently and be obedient. The area has already benefited from her hard work. I am learning a lot from her and am loving having her as my companion.

We had a couple of really great days at the end of the week. We met a few families and received a lot of referrals from those we met. I really learned about how the Lord blesses us to achieve our goals when we set inspired weekly goals and set our daily goals to help us reach them. We are helping both members and investigators to prepare themselves for General Conference this weekend, and look forward to sharing in the experience with them. We were blessed to have 3 investigators at church this week, more than I have had in one week my entire time here. These and many other tender mercies that we got through our obedience and diligence this week helped me to see the Lord's hand in this work. I can't thank him enough!

Our investigator is still progressing towards her baptism, and is looking forward to General Conference this weekend. Donnaliez invited her sister to church again this week, and she finally came this time with two of her kids! They seemed to really enjoy it. They don't live in our area or even in our ward boundaries, so they don't count as an investigator for us, but hopefully if they come again, we can have the missionaries in they're area teach them.

On Monday I finally learned how to make roti! I will have to make it for you when I get home. Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Bratt

2015 Celebration and Transfers

This week has been a hectic one with trying to contact less-active members to invite them to seminary and institute as well as inviting people to Celebration 2015 and helping them to get excited. We were really glad to have the chance to witness the first Celebration show, it was a very wonderful turnout and a great show. The members here truly have great talent. They sang, read poems, and did dramatic readings. It was a fun night. I heard that there were over 500 people there!

So....TRANSFER CALLS! I wasn't too surprised to hear that Sister Herrick was being transferred since she has been here in San Fernando for some time now, but I will still miss her. I'm glad that we are both still in Trinidad for now, so we may see each other on occasion. She will be up north in Sangre (pronounced sandy) Grande. They are the only set of sisters on bikes here in Trinidad! She is going to get a good workout and a nice tan! I am happy to have Sister Taufu'i as my new companion. I know she is a great missionary, and will do well here in San Fernando. She was Sister Herrick's MTC companion, so she is the closest thing to still having Sister Herrick as I can get, haha! She is from Salt Lake, but she is half Samoan, half Tongan. She's a sweetheart. 

I am so excited for General Conference! It is crazy that it is already here again, but at the same time, it feels like forever ago that I was watching it in St. Vincent. Yes, they celebrate Easter here, and most Christians participate in Lent leading up to it, so fish is expensive this time of year and chicken is cheaper, or so we are told. It is because they give up meat for lent. Yesterday was Pagwa in the Hindu culture. That is the festival of colors where the throw the colored chalk stuff at each other. We only saw one person with chalk on them, but we did hear some Indian music playing in our area. Tonight we are going to a members house to learn how to make roti, one of the main foods here, before Sister Herrick leaves. I'll try to take good notes so that I can make it for you when I get home. I feel bad that I haven't been learning to make more things. 

Love,
Sister Bratt

                                  

     

Waking up Happy

We had a great week! We worked hard and were able to find a couple of new families to teach who we are really excited about. We also met a young less-active women that is very sweet and we look forward to working with. We pray that we have met her at a good time in her life when she will be ready to come back to church and remember why she used to come. She also referred us to her friend who lives with her, so we were able to get a member referral that way. I am seeing now how less-actives are truly the gold mine. Even if we can't do much for the less-actives themselves at this time, we can work with those around them who may just be prepared. 

Our investigator is still doing wonderful as well. We were sad, because she didn't make it to church on Sunday, but after seeing her that evening we found out that it was for a good reason, and most importantly that she felt really sad to have missed it. She also continues to amaze us with how willing she is to do what she learns is expected of us and how happy doing so continues to make her. Last Sunday when Donnaleiz bore her testimony in Sacrament meeting she said, "I have been waking up happy and I don't even know why," Our investigator told us that she knows exactly what Donnaleiz was saying because it happens to her too. We talked to her some more about her baptism and she finally chose a solid date to work towards. We still feel she could be ready sooner, but we will take things at her pace. So....April 26th is the date she picked! I don't know the two of us will still be here then, but regardless of that we are so happy for her. 

Yes, we moved to a different apartment. We had the 4 elders here living in the old senior couple's apartment for some time while we had no senior couple. Now that we do have one, the elders had to move out, and the apartment we were in made the most sense for two of them to go to because they have no car, and that apartment is close to where they need to get a taxi. So, we moved to a different part of our area, but we are loving our new apartment so far. There have been a few cockroaches though, yuck! And if you look at my pictures you will see the other fun friend we found on our car last night....I giant beetle! It was gross. We caught it in a pickle jar and Sister Herrick sprayed insecticide stuff in with it to kill it. It was sad, but we didn't want to let it free and risk finding in again. 

Love,

Sister Bratt

                             

                                 

             

Carnival, New Apartment, Ready to Work

I'm still a little thrown off by this crazy Carnival week. I will try to remember back to last week. Our investigator is still doing wonderfully. She came to church for the second time on Sunday for our first hour only fast and testimony Sunday. She felt the spirit and even thought about going up to bear her testimony! She didn't get the chance to, but her time will come. She told a member that said it was good to see her there, "You'll always see me here." So she is doing great! We are very excited for her. 

We moved into our new apartment over the weekend which slowed us down a bit, but now that we are all settled, and don't have to worry about finding a new place to live, we can focus back on the work 100%.

Love,
Sister Bratt