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.

Happy to be Staying in St Vincent

 This week wasn't the best. We struggled to meet with our appointments and to find back-ups the entire week. We weren't very effective in our finding efforts either. It didn't help that we were short a couple of days either, but we did our best, and will pray that the Lord will help us have more success this week. We do have a few great new investigators that we met recently and were able to teach this week, so there is something good that happened. I am trying to improve each day and think of ways that we can change our approach to be more effective. I am learning that we simply have to trust in the Lord and do our very best even when things don't go as planned. 

I was happy though not entirely surprised to hear that Sister Bennie would be serving together again this transfer. The new transfer starts on Wednesday (my 4th!) I am glad to be serving with her, she is a great missionary and a wonderful daughter of God; I love her! We are still getting along great and will be happy to serve together as long as possible. 

So I heard that we will be having Zone Conference in St. Lucia this transfer. That will be a good experience, though I was excited to go see Barbados and to be with all of the Sisters there. I'm sure it will be nice to even see two other sisters though, as well as Sister Mehr and President Mehr. 

We were really sad not to have been able to watch any of Conference yesterday due to not having internet connection. We think that the big storm on Saturday night may have knocked out the internet in the area. I guess the Elders were able to watch some of it in Kingstown, but Sister Bennie and I didn't know they got the internet back on, so we hope to have the opportunity to see it later on. We were really looking forward to watching Conference. It is one of my favorite times of year to hear the words of the prophet and apostles. I am grateful to have seen the Saturday sessions, however, and will look forward to getting the Liahona with the talks if nothing else. 

I love you lots! 

Sister Bratt

P.S. - HAPPY BIRTHDAY ON FRIDAY MEGHAN!! LOVE YA!

Storms & Tremors

We will be in St. Lucia next week for zone conference. That will be a good experience, though I was excited to go see Barbados and to be with all of the Sisters there. I'm sure it will be nice to see even two other sisters though, as well as Sister Mehr and President Mehr.  I'm excited for the little mini vacation (lol). It will be a long, but good couple of days. 

This week was a bit better than last week. Sister Bennie and I gave two of the talks on Sunday. It was an interesting day, because we got a lot of rain which kept people from church. When we got there there were only about 15 people there (5 of which were the branch presidency and the elders). A few more showed up, but we decided not to have our other meetings since both of the Sunday School teachers weren't there, and there were so few people. We did end up having a short relief society with the 6 sisters there while the kids practiced for the primary program in a couple weeks. It was an interesting day. The other two branches had really low attendance as well. Was there a hurricane or tsunami somewhere? I heard that may have been what caused all the rain; plus there was apparently a tremor the other night around 10 or so, but I was sound asleep. Sister Bennie felt it, but didn't know if she imagined it until she heard other people talk about it. 

We are trying our best to avoid getting sick. There is a flu going around that I would prefer not to get. I am taking vitamins and airborn to keep my immune system up, so hopefully it helps.

I love you all,

Sister Bratt

Standard of Excellence

As a zone we have been working to make our "Standard of Excellence" for the categories of member lessons, referrals, and member referrals taught. We decided to give ourselves a bit of an incentive and say that if we make our goal for 2 out of 3 of them, then we get to go to Bequia, one of the Grenadine islands that is closest to us. If we get all three, then we get to have t-shirts made to wear when we go to Bequia. We made the challenge about 2 weeks ago, and the past two weeks haven't been the greatest. We haven't made our goal either week. So this week we will be striving to work extra hard and be extra diligent so that we get to go to Bequia on the 30th. 

Our investigators weren't able to meet with us Thursday or Saturday for our scheduled appointments, but they did come to church on Sunday which was great! Plus, they brought his younger brother with them! So things there are still going well. 

The Elders in our branch had a baptism this past Saturday (the day Kaden was born!). Two investigators were baptized, as was an 8 year old from our branch whose parents and older sister are all baptized already. It was a really cool experience to see all of them baptized one after another. They were all very excited; especially one of the investigators. She has been coming to church off and on for over 5 years and her two teenage daughters were baptized about that long ago. Due to certain things in her life, she hasn't been able to be baptized even though she had the desire and a testimony of the truthfulness of the church. Finally things in her life fell into place so that she was able to be baptized, and it was amazing to see the joy that she radiated. She definitely appreciates the experience even more because she had to wait so long for it. 

Did I tell you that I live with Buddy the Elf? Haha! Sister Bennie is a bean pole yet she eats chocolate syrup on her pizza (and basically anything else; see pictures for proof), soda in her cereal, and thinks that ice cream, chocolate, soda, and pepper sauce go with anything. She is so lucky that she gets to eat like that and not gain a pound! It makes it hard for me to not gain weight with her eating all that, but I love her anyway! I'm trying to eat healthy and exercise, but I can't seem to keep my weight under control no matter how hard I try. 

So I don't know if the pictures will load today, but we met a cute family with three little girls (4,6, and 11) who are obsessed with playing with our hair. One of them calls me mom, and even the mom loves us. She is lonely I think and likes the company. She taught us how to make pilau, a local rice dish, as well as frying us up some french fries and hot dogs and making up homemade passion fruit juice, the first time we went over. They are really sweet. 

So I had a pretty nasty fall the other day. We were going up to a house to call inside and contact, but I stepped off the path to let Sister Bennie and the member who was with us pass, and ended up on top of a cinder block that wasn't very stable. It ended up toppling over and I fell, in the process scrapping my shin on the block pretty good. I posted some pictures I think, but if not they will go on next week. It isn't as bad as it looks really. At first I didn't even know it was scrapped I was just muddy. Then I cleaned it off and it started bleeding so I went to a nearby members house and cleaned it with peroxide. Don't worry though, Sister Bird, as well as various members, are taking good care to make sure I am re-applying peroxide and neosporin. It will be better in no time! 

Love you all,

Sister Bratt

   

Wonderful Investigators

We had the wonderful opportunity on Tuesday this week to extend a baptismal date to one of the amazing families we have been teaching. They are a great married couple with two children ages 11 and 2 that will be a great addition to our branch when they are baptized on October 12th if all goes well. They have been able to feel the difference in our church that they have never felt in any other church they have attended. The husband has never had the desire to join a church or even to attend one before, but he is now desiring to come to church to feel the Spirit he has felt there, and to be baptized as well. I have had the opportunity to see the great change that has come over him in the past few weeks as we have been teaching them, and I am so excited for them as they make this right step that will bless their family abundantly. The husband's sister is a member in Kingstown branch so they have a strong connection to the church through her example. I have seen that the adversary is working overtime to keep them from making this important step in their lives. However, I know that they can make it through whatever he throws at them. They are very strong as they help each other to progress. I know that the Lord will help them to accomplish their righteous desires.

Love you all,

Sister Bratt

                                               Sister Bratt loves to take pictures of the animals 

                                                she sees in St. Vincent. I knew Corn would 
                                                  appreciate these pics.