Goodbyes and New Companions

We had a scattered but successful week. It has been an enjoyable experience serving in a Trio with Sister Taufu'i and Sister Stahle. Sister Stahle come out with Sister Herrick and Sister Taufu'i, but volunteered to learn French when she got here, so has been on the French side of the mission most of the time. They are both great missionaries that have served faithfully until the end, I have learned so much from the both of them. I look forward to working with and getting to know my new companion this next transfer, Sister Feltis. I am going to do my very best to remain focused until the end of my mission so that she, or whoever I'm with my last transfer, won't be distracted by me going home. I don't know too much about Sister Feltis, but that she has served the first 6 months of her mission on Barbados. I have heard great things about her, and look forward to meeting her, unfortunately, she doesn't have her Trinidad visa just yet. So after taking my dying companions to the mission home on Wednesday morning, I will be in a different Trio, with Sister Ready and Sister Hyde, indefinitely until she gets here.

This Friday will be my last Zone Conference which means that I will have to bear my "departing testimony," yikes! It will be all of Trinidad there as well as Elder Zivic the new Carribean Area President. Plus, our zone is supposed to preform a musical number, but we don't know what it will be yet and won't be able to practice until Wednesday, because half of our Zone is changing this transfer. That will be an experience! 

Unfortunately, our investigator was very busy this week and sick this weekend, so we didn't get to see him. However, the Lord has been blessing us little by little with other wonderful people to teach as well.

Love you lots!

Sister Bratt

Destined for a Great Work

Sorry for not emailing yesterday, I hope you weren't worried. It was Trinidad's independance day on Sunday, so the Holiday fell on the Monday after. Yesterday being a holiday meant that a lot of places were closed. We decided to take advantage of the extra time to go visit people in Sando so Sister Taufu'i can say her goodbyes. She leaves in a week and a half! Crazy! 

In the morning yesterday we had an all Trinidad Sports Day with all the missionaries. There was football (soccer), American football, basketball, volleyball, and Frisbee. The senior couples provided snacks and drinks and President and Sister Mehr made an appearance on the way to the airport. Even in dress clothes, President Mehr got sweaty playing some basketball with the elders. Sister Mehr also hit the volleyball around with the sisters. It was a great activity made even greater by the participation of President and Sister Mehr. I'm sure he enjoys taking off the tie every now and again and playing with the missionaries; we enjoy it too. 

This week was good. We are still working with the investigator who's dream I related to you last week. The last lesson we had with him, he expressed considerable concern and fear at feeling that, when baptized, the Lord would put him on a different path than the one he has for himself. He has big plans and ideas for his life and he fears the unknown. He is nervous about what God might have in store for him, because he has been receiving different promptings and revelation that it may be something great. We have felt from our first lessons with him, that the Lord needs him in his work, but it was even more strongly confirmed as he expressed the same feelings to us. I've never felt so strongly that someone was destined for a great work in the Lord's vineyard. Nor do I know how to help ease his fears of such a future. All I know is that the Lord knows what is best and we must put our trust in him. 

I don't know what the new transfer will bring, but I will let you know next Monday who my new companion will be. 

Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Bratt

Answers to Prayers

We had a pretty good week. I don't know if you remember me talking about our investigator, but Sister Wilson and I worked with him for a while before she left, and he went on vacation. Well, he is back and doing great! I finally found a video I wanted to show him about Wilford Woodruf being baptized and then re-baptized when he found the church with prophets, apostles, correct doctrines, ordinances, and authority. He had concerns about being baptized over again having already being baptized and feeling good about his first baptism. He really related to the video and also loved the account in the Bible of Paul re-baptizing those who didn't receive the Holy Ghost. He decided he is finally ready to set a date to work toward to show the lord his faith. He was going to put it off until after exams in October, but when he went to say that to us, instead of "November" coming out of his mouth, he said "September." We all agreed that it was inspired, because Sister Taufu'i and I had been praying about it and felt he would be ready in September. Now he just needs to decide on a day! Oh, and he also told us about a dream he had....about Sister Wilson! haha, She was following him around EVERYWHERE with a book telling him to read it and stop putting it off. It is so funny how the Lord works, because she was always so persistent with him, and he came to expect it of her, so the Lord knew he would understand the message if she was the one "nagging him".

Something else that happened this week was that we got back in touch with a recent convert of Sister Wilson's and his older brother who almost got baptized a couple of months ago. We went to visit them for less active visits, but they weren't home. I called their mom though, and she surprisingly answered (she hasn't in a long time). I talked to her once more on the phone, but she couldn't give me a time to come by, so we just dropped in on them. The older brother was outside, so we got to talk to him for a few minutes and he got the younger brother outside for us too. He turns 12 on Tuesday and hopefully we can see them, I'm making him brownies! Haha, Sister Wilson's signature dessert. Nothing much has come of the contact yet, but we still hope that it will. 

We had Stake Conference this weekend and all the missionaries were invited to Saturday session which normally doesn't happen, but the theme was hastening the work, so they gave us a special invite. It was nice to see all the missionaries as well as some members from San Fernando and to hear from President and Sister Mehr and the Stake Presidency. Some of the members from Sando also bore their testimonies on the temple trip they had last month. It was really special to hear about their experiences.

Sister Duff is leaving this Friday to go spend a few days with Sister Wilson before going to the MTC on September 2nd. The work will be different here without her, but she has her own mission to perform; she will do great things in the Ogden mission! 

Thanks for all your love and support!

Love you!

Sister Bratt

Repeat Companion :)

Sister Taufu'i and I are doing really well. It was nice to jump right in to teaching together since we already had done it before. It is definitely more effective when you don't have to adjust to teaching with a new companion. 

Our investigator unfortunately disappeared again, but we still hope to find her. We have found some other good potential investigators including a family, a mom, 2 daughters, and a son. The father hasn't joined our lessons as of  yet, but we will see if that will change. Yes, school starts again soon in the first week of September. We have been trying to work with the young women more over the summer. We were counseled by President Mehr to split up during church and help in different classes, so we have been switching off going to YW and Relief Society. We also wanted to take some of the young women out on splits on Sunday, but it didn't work out this time. We will keep trying, though. 

One of the recent converts in our area came to church for the first time in a while with his sonl We visited him last Saturday and he told us he was getting some time with his son and he would bring him to church. Then we visited him Saturday for less-active visits with the branch, and sure enough, he called 26 times on Sunday morning around 8 to let us know he was there at church and that we were late. We missed the calls while we were getting ready. It was great to see him there in his white shirt with a smile on his face and his little boy on his lap when we walked into the chapel. 

It hasn't been flooding in our area recently, but it is rainy season. The other day we heard that Port of Spain, the capital city, had some flooding problems and in some places there was dirty water up to peoples knees along the road. 

I miss the Temple a lot. I'm sad that I didn't get to go more before my mission, so I'll have to make up for it when I get home. 

Hope you all have a great week, I love you lots!

Love,
Sister Bratt


                                                                                P - Day at the Zoo

Hastening of the Work

This month the mission had 68 baptisms; 30 of which where on the same day! The Lord is truly hastening his work, and we are right on track to reach our mission goal of 600 baptisms this year.

There were many changes that happened this week! I guess I'm good at "killing" people...I said goodbye to Sister Wilson and hello to Sister Giles, then 3 days later said goodbye to Sister Giles and hello again to Sister Taufu'i. This is her last transfer, so I will be sending her off as well. Though my time with Sister Giles was short, it was nice serving with her, but I'm sure the Lord has great things in store for Sister Taufu'i and I this transfer. We set a goal of getting 2 baptisms this transfer, and fasted this Sunday for help and guidance to reach that goal. We are already seeing the blessings of that fast, and the Lord's help in our work.

Things in our area have been slower lately, but we have been working hard, having faith, and seeing success. One of those successes this week was the investigator who came to D's baptism. We met her a few weeks back when she was walking past the church and called out to a member who was outside to ask him about the church. She had recently started staying in a house around the corner and wanted to start going to church again as she hadn't been going for some time. Amazingly, we were just finishing our branch coordination meeting at the time, so the member came to get us to talk to her. We taught her two short lessons in the next week or so, and after the second lesson invited her to come to church that Sunday and to D's baptism later that day. And you know, she came to both! She also felt the spirit really strong.

Unfortunately, we lost touch with her this week when she moved again, and her phone wasn't working. I prayed all week that she would come to church again so that we could get another address or number for her. Well, my prayer was answered! On Sunday morning at church, in she walked. Not only was she there, but she bore a powerful testimony in Sacrament Meeting about the changes she has seen in her life in she short time she has been attending this church, and she said the opening prayer in Gospel Principles class. We also went to teach her that evening, and though she ended up not being home, the Lord placed many people in our path in her neighborhood that we met instead. We have great hopes that she will be baptized this transfer, and are so grateful for all that He has done to bless us so far. I know that our Father in Heaven hears and answers our prayers, I know that fasting is powerful, and I know that the Lord is laboring alongside us each and every day. 

I love you all so much!

Sister Bratt

Baptism

This week was a little difficult as we were looking for the seminary and institute students (we had to try to contact all of them this week to get them to enroll), Sister Wilson started saying her goodbyes, the end of the transfer, etc. It was also a very great week, however, because our amazing convert got baptized, and we met a really great new investigator that came to her baptism as well as to church!

I got my transfer call...I will be staying in the same area, and am going to be serving with Sister Giles. I have been on trade offs with her before when I was in Sando, she is a good missionary. I will miss Sister Wilson, but it will be great to talk to her over email as I finish the rest of my mission. She will struggle as she goes home, but she will make it through and will grow from it. It will be a growing experience for me, too, as I lead out another area, but I know it will be great. The Lord knows when we need another experience to push us and help us grow. I'm grateful for such experiences.

I love you lots!

Sister Bratt

Rain and Floods

What a rainy stormy week this was! We got some big thunder and plenty of rain. Our church parking lot flooded completely on Friday as well as the yard creating a small lake. We were very blessed to have a car so that the rain didn't keep us inside or simply soaked through. We managed to keep dry for the most part, but the rain made it hard to find people to teach. People don't want to do anything when it rains, they stay inside and sleep. We did find a few people to teach, however. 

We were able to support the Grande sisters in the baptism of a wonderful family (Parents and 2 kids of baptism age) this Saturday, what a blessing to have found such a strong family! Now Sister Wilson and I are preparing for our investigator's baptism this coming weekend. That will be a great day! I am so honored to have been an instrument in the Lord's hands in helping her to get married and now baptized. That will definitely be a story to remember from my mission. 

Sister Wilson is going home really soon, a week from Wednesday, and I think it is only now starting to feel real for her. She will be saying a lot of goodbyes the next week and a half. I can't even imagine what that will be like, but before I know it that will be me. I just want to remain focused with the time that I have left. 4 months is a lot, but also not enough. I will truly miss all the people here, but I will be happy to be home. It is even harder for Sister Wilson, but I know she will get through it; she is one of the strongest people I know. I will miss her a lot when she leaves. It will be strange to think that so many of the missionaries I have been serving around my entire mission (including Sister Crompton) will be going home this transfer, plus even more the following transfer when Sister Herrick leaves. It will be strange when my group of Sisters will be the oldest in the mission. 

Give everyone my love!

Love,

Sister Bratt