Dec 23

Can you believe it is already Christmas??

So crazy!

I thought I would never get here... but I am here!!

And Christmas on missions are so wonderful.  Thank you for every single one of you who has sent me some Christmas love.  I am humbled by how spoiled I have been!

So this last week has just been insane.  We had an all mission conference- every single missionary in our mission in one building at once!  Crazy!  (Well... except one who was in the hospital getting his appendix removed... poor guy)

Anyway, it was so nice seeing everyone.  You really become family with the people you serve around.  So it was just like this big wonderful family reunion mingled with Christmas music and good food!

And the music program was just wonderful.  I was on the piano basically the entire time.  So that was fun.  But we have some AMAZINGLY talented people here.

Oh man... it is an honor to know them!

I JUST LOVE MISSIONS!

Anyway.

So this weekend we had our branch Christmas party.  And if you know Hispanics, you know it is going to end with a dance.  So there is this adorable little girl named Analy (probably the reason why she is so adorable) and she was trying to play match maker and make me dance with this one elder.

So funny.

So we were trying to explain to her that no, we couldn't do that because we have these name tags.  And when you have the name tag, you can't do certain things like dance- especially with a boy.

And she put her head down and thought for a second and then she just got this look on her face of complete revelation and said,

 "I know!  Why don't you just take the name tag off!"

We laughed for that second, but then it really hit me.

Why don't we just take off the name tag?

This week has been a week of reflecting on the amazing calling that I have to be out here representing the Lord.

I have the special and unique opportunity to be set apart to teach others how to come unto Christ.  And it would be easy just to take off the name tag.  I mean, it is just a clip, right?  But I don't.  Because that is what I am giving to Him who gave all.

I am sure that a lot of people have put the thought into your mind of what you are going to give this season.

And in case you haven't, I am here to put the thought into your head.

What will you give?

Maybe you don't have a nametag, but you have a knowledge of Christ.  And it is easy to just "check your religion at the door"

 (http://www.lds.org/broadcasts/september-2012-ces-devotional)

But that isn't why we are here.  That isn't why I am here.

the church is true.  And I am so grateful for this season that I have to think about Christ and His birth, life, and sacrifice for me and for you.  There is just something so wonderful about this season.  And sure, it is easy to lose the true meaning, but think about your "name tag"- the privilege you had to take His name upon you when you entered the waters of baptism.

Don't take your nametag off.

I love you all and Merry Christmas(:

Dec 16

Transfers!!! AH!  So I didn't realize how much I needed a transfer until... well until I was transferred.

AND I LOVE SANTA ROSA!!!

AND I LOVE MY NEW COMPANION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hermana Andrews from Mesa, AZ

YEAH!  AN AZ GIRL!

And she has been out 16 months and she is just the world's best missionary, I am pretty sure.

And I just love her so much.  What else... we have just been loving out time together.  I don't have any particular funny stories or anything yet,  but I promise that they will definitely come!  We just have too much fun together.  This last week has been crazy trying to get settled in, getting lost A LOT, and doing a lot of planning (well trying.  I am amazed at how much of your mission is spent planning.  But it works!  When you plan, the Lord has a way of making the things work.  Or not.. but that is okay(: )

We live in this cute little granny flat that has a full kitchen! (Which was a luxury I didn't have in my last basement apt) YAY TENDER MERCIES!  So we are super excited for that. 

BTW: For those who are wanting to send some love my way, I live at:

4040 New Zealand

Santa Rosa, CA 95407

Everybody loves some love(:

Also we have all these goals that we WILL accomplish this next transfer!

One of which is to contact 625 new people.  So we are determined to do that!  Hopefully amongst that 625, there will be that one who has been wanting and waiting.  Because we have to sort through the tares to find the wheat.  But that is okay(:

It just means talking to a lot of people.

Totally possible!

We are a mission of high expectations!  And luckily I have grown up in an environment where being average is not okay.  So I am here to not be average!  But I need your prayers to be the best that is possible.

I love you all so much and I am so grateful for your support.

Remember Christ this season!

Watch here!

Dec 9

THE LAST WEEK OF THE TRANSFER! I DID IT!

Oh man, missions are crazy.  And I am so happy that we have transfers- they really help break things up.

So my revelation of the week is that missions are like the Plan of Salvation all condensed into 18 months- if you don't know what the Plan of Salvation is, feel free to message me on Facebook and I will explain!

Anyway, so the MTC is like pre-earth life.  You are just SO EXCITED to get out into the field.  You just want to do it so bad, but you have to wait.

So then you get to the field and you have your trainer- who is your mom- and you feel like a little kid and you are so scared but at the same time, you feel invincible and you have SO much energy and your trainer does all the hard stuff and you just are loving life- even though you sometimes have little tantrums and it is still hard.  Because learning that much at one time and growing that much is really hard! (So those are your first 2 transfers)

Well- then you get to your 3rd and 4th.  For me, those were my teenage years.  I was like, "yeah!  I've got this missionary thing!  Cake."  and at least for me, it was like self discovery... so excited to get away from my trainer and become the missionary I want to become.  

And then by the end, the realization comes that this is still hard, that I have A TON to work on, that my trainer was amazing and I just want her to be my companion forever, and that I really need to shape up.

So here I am.  Going into my 5th transfer.  Can you believe it?? I sure can't.  

And I have been transferred to good old SANTA ROSA!  The heart of the mission(:  

So that should be super fun!

And, For all of you who are feeling all giving and holiday- spirit-y, my new address is:

4040 New Zealand, Santa Rosa, CA 95407

YAY!

By the way, this last week had so many adventures.  We went to the beach, (it was freezing), I went on exchanges with a Tongan who taught me how to dance (super funny), transfer doctrine (that is the call of death that you wait for ALLFriday and then it comes and you just listen and find out your fate), Church, trying to say goodbye to everyone, packing...

you know.

Crazy stuff like that.

But if there is anything I have learned during this crazy time out here in my mission, it is that the Lord will always take care of us. I am not going to lie.  These last two transfers have been really hard!  Mostly because I was being a rebellious teenage punk (mind you- this is all in missionary world- so I say that and I promise you I was not doing anything crazy bad haha I am definitely an obedient missionary).  But I know that I would not have gotten through without the amazing missionaries I have been serving around.  Seriously, every single missionary has gotten me through.  And I love them all so much. 

I hope the picture actually got to you... the computers here really hate me.  But this is the crazy group I got to work with.

Love the people that surround you!  They are there for a reason and you will learn something from them(:  the Lord has a funny way of doing everything with a specific purpose(:

I love you all!

Remember to stay calm and remember the Savior during this time of the year!(:

I love you all,

Sister Bryant

Dec 2

OKAY!  First thanksgiving on my mission!  Check!

Mexican thanksgivings are pretty sweet!  I don't think I will ever be able to eat American food again.  Authentic Mexican food is just... ah(:  It is just ah(:

And the morning started out with a good old american football game... which was dumb.  Because us sisters aren't allowed to touch the elders.  So we basically just stood in the field, trying to avoid them.

Then after that we watched a soccer tournament.  Which was SWEET.  Soccer has totally won my heart and I am convinced it is the sport that will be played in Heaven.

And then after that, we ate and practiced for the giant musical program we put on!

Quite the day!

So yeah... Everything is amazing.  I am grateful for this mission!  I have learned a lot.  Especially about the nature of prayer and fasting.  You WILL receive and answer.  So be careful what you pray of fast for hahaha

As the Christmas season comes up, learn to rely and trust in the Lord.  That is something I am working on daily.  It is hard... it definitely is not easy.  But it is so worth it(:

And if you find yourself wanting to send some love to Sister Bryant this Holiday Season, she would not mind that whatsoever!

The church is true!

I wish I had more time to write these emails.  Maybe by the end of my mission I will figure out a system to be able to do everything I need to on Pday haha

I LOVE YOU ALLL!

Nov 25

Can you believe it has already been a week?  I can't!  I know I say this like every week, but missionary timing is SO STRANGE.  It is never, ever normal.

This week started out with a whole ton of rain.  SO FUNNY. I was on exchanges with Sister Lee and Sister Ahonima.  They are just amazing.  And we were out trying to contact people in the rain and NOBODY was out.  Except some fiercely devoted asian lady who was walking her dog, like she does every day, and some funny man who told us we were going to hell.  It was kinda ironic- clearly we are going to hell because we are giving people pictures of Christ in the rain.  Sometimes I don't understand people's brains haha 

Anyway!  It was hysterical though because we had just lost all sense of pride because we were DRENCHED so we were just like chasing people down. (when I say drenched, I mean complete with running mascara and pool hair.  And if any of you know, me and wet hair= a wet cat.  No wonder nobody wanted to talk to us haha)

  SO funny.  We were like knocking on people's car windows and everything to try to get them to listen.  

Yep, we were "those" missionaries.

No shame.

Also, this week we were able to go to the temple in Oakland.

I love the temple so much!

Like half of the mission decided to go at the same time, so we had this mini mission reunion in the celestial room.  So amazing.  I was able to see my two old companions, (Hermana Chavez and Hermana Zimmerman- funnily enough, they are now companions(: )

I never thought I would love these missionaries so much.  There is a special place in my heart for every one of them!

OH!  I was able to put my Student Council skills to work here too!  We are having this big open house this weekend and so I was able to make some pretty sweet posters! It was too funny because I just whipped out the butcher paper and paint.  All the other missionaries laughed at me.  I felt like I was in High School again.

But by golly, we better get some people coming to this open house!

What else... 

I love this place and I love these people and I am starting to love Spanish.  Slowly but surely.

I don't really have any words to the wise right now... I guess don't make fun of missionaries if they are like booking it down the sidewalk trying to talk to someone.

You don't know what kind of week they have had haha

I was going to attach some pictures, but this computer says I am not authorized to do so.  Whatever that means... 

So I apologize that ya'll don't get to see my face this week.

So Christmas is coming up...

And I love hearing from ya'll!

So I am not putting this to pressure you all, but I am saying that if you feel like sending me anything, I wouldn't mind receiving:

-Gift cards to Target or Panera Bread

-Cardigans

-Sticky notes

-Anything you look at that screams my name(:

YAY!

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!

Stay strong and keep the faith(:

Nov 18

So this week was so good. Even though we had to take a chill day because Sister Fredrickson got attacked by the flu and nearly died... but even with that, we were able to see some amazing miracles!

So... The main theme of this past week has definitely been obedience.

So we have this rule in our mission where during the 12:00 hour, we need to be out meeting people no matter what.  Which sometimes become really inconvenient because sometimes that means we get to do a fun "put off lunch until dinner" thing.

Anyway!  The other day, our studies went too long and and because of that, we had a choice- be obedient or not.

So we decided to go out to the streets and contact people.

Nothing really amazing came from that, I mean we met a lot of people which was amazing, but none of them were really that "golden".

Well that night we went to go teach a lesson with these people we had found a few days ago.  And as we were teaching, we noticed this guy sitting at the table.  So we invited him to come join us and he starting talking about how he helped build the San Salvador temple in El Salvador and that the only thing he knew about Mormons was the "big man with the trumpet" that was on top.

WHAT?  Who knows that??

So we started talking some more- turns out the wife (who we originally had the lesson with) has read a good chunk of the Book of Mormon and knew the story of Joseph Smith and everything.  She even started teaching it to the other guy!

AH!

Anyway, we gave him a Book of Mormon, and he said he cannot stop reading it.

Golden.

And I know that we met him because we were obedient.

So- my challenge to you this week is BE OBEDIENT!

Pray, Read, Go to church!  Primary answers!  You will see miracles!  There is a reason we are told to do these things.

Funny story of the week...

So up to this point in my mission, I have managed to avoid...

menudo.

That is until this past thursday.

WHYYY.

For those of you who are unaware, Menudo is this absolutely disgusting soup that is made of cow stomach.

Which, first of all, ew.  I am reminded of Lilo and Stitch when she only had tuna and had to make a sandwich for Pudge.

"It's an abomination!"

Why on earth would I feed my poor stomach other stomach?

Plus, have you ever seen menudo?

I knew it was going to be bad when my soup had feelers.

Anyway... all of us missionaries tried our hardest to down as much as possible.  I am proud to say I ate almost all of it... except the chunk that looked like a dead rat.

Poor Sister Ellsworth put in one bite and it all came right back out.  Elder Minhondo was a champ though and ate it for her- even the part that she attempted to eat.

PLUS!  Even the Mexican missionaries weren't eating it!  Elder Ruvalcaba just drank the broth and put a napkin over the top.

Elder Mathusek, our greenie, was smart.  He ate a Jabenero chile to distract everyone from the fact he hadn't eaten anything.

I wasn't that smart.  And I was on the verge of up-chucking the entire rest of the night.

Oh man.  Next time, I am saying no. 

Too funny.

Welp.

That is all I have.

Some missionaries survive natural disasters, I survive menudo. 

Nov 11

Oh man, do I have a story.

So.  One of the things that we teach is keeping the Sabbath Day Holy.

This includes:

-Going to church and participating in the Sacrament

-Not participating in sports or other commercial activities

-Not shopping

Okay.

So last night, on Sunday, I was walking with my companion down this street and there was a soccer ball in the middle.  So, wanting to make walking more exciting, I started just kicking it in front of me as I was walking.  The thought didn't even come to my mind that I was technically playing a sport.

Well... I started trying to be cool- which was just a bad idea, because we all know how not coordinated I am, and I TOTALLY BIFFED IT.

Like somehow my foot like slid over the ball, and I just like belly flopped.  Like it wasn't a trip where you fall on your knees and palms, it was a hard core face plant.

Anyway, I was laughing so stinking hard, and my companion almost peed her pants.  It was SO FUNNY.

So I have this sweet skinned knee and palms, and my pinky looks like it had a fight with a cheese grater.  

But!

My tights didn't rip!!!

So that was a blessing!

And now I know and have a testimony of not playing sports on Sundays.

The Lord pretty much struck me down for that one.  Oops.

I encourage you all to learn from my mistakes and make this next Sunday the best one ever!

I love you all!

Nov 4

So- after almost six months, Spanish and I have finally come to an agreement.

And I am sort of being able to communicate a little better!

Things kinda just clicked(:  Well- which is a lie.  It is more like, I am not telling people false doctrine anymore(:

Okay.  What else... I love you all so much.  And I only have a few minutes to write, but I want to let you all know that you will receive answers through the Book of Mormon.

Because it is the word of God(:

And if you don't know, read and pray(:

I love you all!

Have a blessed week!(:

October 14

This week was SUCH a roller coaster!  Full of getting almost dropped by our most solid investigators, having an AMAZING zone conference by my absolutely phenomenal mission president, President Alba and his wife, getting thrown into the real world, and spiders.

So many spiders.

So let's start off.

My piece of wisdom today is to trust in the Lord.

Nothing is more frustrating as a missionary than seeing somebody get so close, and then the second something goes wrong, drop it all.

That is so upsetting.

There is an amazing promise in the Book of Mormon.

" And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and ^ahappy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are ^bblessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out ^cfaithful to the end they are received into ^dheaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it"

Those who keep the commandments are blessed in all things BOTH spiritual and temporal.

I know that this is true!

I know it with all of my heart!

Okay...  let's think.  I love my mission president so much!  He is really one of the most amazing and inspired men that I have ever met.  The mission that I am in is just a little different because we have all these tools.  Basically what that means is that we are being watched SO carefully in how we use these tools.  Having iPads and being able to teach anyone all over the world is definitely new.  We are pioneering this, so we are having to live be that much more obedient.

I cannot believe or even begin to try to understand the amount of pressure that would put on a mission president.  Seriously, though.  Pray for the mission President's in your area.  Because they are doing amazing things.

So the other day we went to dinner with our branch president, President Mejia.  Oh man, he is a funny funny soul.

But what cracked me up is that he wanted to go to the food court in the mall so that we could all eat what we wanted.  Holy cow.

Talk about being thrown into the real world!  With real music, and seeing what movies were coming out...

basically it was an overload for me haha 

It was too funny.  

It was definitely like a solid battle between the natural man and the missionary mind. Man, oh man.  Being a missionary is funny.

Spiders.

I hate spiders.

But I love letters! 

And I love all of you!  I am who I am because of every single one of you, and I am so so grateful for that.

Love,

Sister Bryant

October 7

I am going to keep it short and sweet today.

If you didn't watch General Conference, I am calling you to repentance. 

Luckily you can watch it right here(:

(put link)

I don't know about for all of you, but for me, it answered TONS of my prayers.  I realized I have a lot of things I need to work on, and I also know the way to accomplish them.

I am so grateful that I have a knowledge that God still speaks to us through these inspired leaders.

Other than that, let me think.  Nothing really funny necessarily happened this past week.  It was just kinda a crazy crazy week!  But so wonderful and so full of inspiration.  

The church is true! (Exclamation point!)

If you don't know it, pray about it.  You will receive an answer!

September 30

Hello world!  Okay.  So I have so much to say.  So many miracles, so many stories, so much amazingness.

So this might be a little tiny bit lengthy but I promise you it will be worth it!

So to start off, let me tell you about Celeste.

She is one of the most faithful, amazing, and prepared people I have ever met in my mission.  In my life, actually.  She is the product of years of pain and mistakes.  But she is indescribable.

We went over there randomly one night.  Sister Fredrickson just got this overwhelming feeling that we needed to go... and we hadn't earlier because she lives like 20 minutes away in a different little city.

So we started the journey (mind you, we don't have a GPS so I am trying to figure out how the heck to use a map and direct Sister Fredrickson without accidentally taking us to San Francisco- which would be very very bad news).

Anyway.  We finally get there, and after some more adventure we find her house.  So she invites us in (mind you, this is our first time meeting her) and we are talking to her and stuff and we meet her family.  Rafael (16), Firmen (15), Cesar (14), Melody (8), Coco and Chiyo (2), and Abel (1).  And they are just the sweetest family.

So we were talking to her about what missionaries in the past have taught her, and then she just started opening up about how we were a direct answer to her prayer.  Earlier that day she was angry at God.  She has gone through a lot- and she was mad that things were happening this way.  And she was just talking to Him.  Saying how she feels like she was forsaken.  She was just going to leave.  She was so mad that she felt blind.  She had no idea where she was going to go, but she was going to leave.

And then we showed up literally an hour later.

We were not planning on it.

Nor did we know why.

Miracles really do happen.

So we went by the next day and started talking to her and halfway through she realized that Rafael had left. He and Celeste had gotten in an argument and so him leaving was not a good thing.  And so they ran out trying to find him and after a while, there was no success. And at that moment, Sister Fredrickson and I both had this mental image of us driving down a street and finding him.  We both described the street perfectly the same way and so we knew that we had to go find him.  Even though we had no idea where this street was. So we told Celeste we needed to leave and she just looked at us and said, "can we pray?" SO MUCH FAITH!  AH! So we got everyone gathered and prayed together.  

And then we left.  And after a while of driving around and literally just turning where the Spirit told us to turn, we found him.  Walking down the same exact street we had pictured.

That night we set a date for him to be baptized. 

Celeste and her other two sons drove by on their bikes a little while later and after seeing us she said, "I knew you guys would find him!  I just knew it!  The pack is reunited!"

I wish I could describe just how we felt at that moment.

Literally on top of the world.

Nothing is better than being an instrument in the Lord's hands.  Nothing.

"In the end, the number of prayers we say may contribute to our happiness, but the number of prayers we answer may be of greater importance"

-President Uchtdorf

I love being a missionary.

So!  Funny story of the week.

Sister Fredrickson and I live in a basement.  And it is fine, except we have a lot of little critter friends.

So the other day we go home and I walk into the kitchen and there is this GIANT spider.  Just chilling.  So if we would have killed it, it would have gotten gross guts everywhere!  I definitely didn't want that!  So my thought was just use the cup and paper trick.  That is always how we caught scorpions back home, so yeah!

But the spider was giant and up against the wall.  So there was no way to get it in the cup.

So there was like 15 minutes of me walking super close to the spider, trying to get it in the cup, and then having an emotional breakdown and screaming and running away.  So eventually, Sister Fredrickson put it in the cup and I did the paper deal, flipped it over, and now it is our pet(:  We fed it a cricket this morning.

I am not really sure what to do with it now.  I don't want to kill it, but I don't want to set it free and then find it eating my companion the next day.  Because I am pretty sure it could eat her whole.

So yeah!

Yay!  I love you all!  

And I challenge you to pray to be the answer to someone's prayer this week and then send me a letter all about it!

I LOVE LETTERS!

Love,

Hermana Bryant

Sept 23

OH hello folks!  It is just me, saying hello from SAN RAFAEL!

So... For all of ya'll who don't know, it is the city right above San Francisco.  So if we take the freeway accidentally too far, we cross the ocean and end up in a different mission.

It has been a source of anxiety for us thus far.

Anyway.  It is SO BEAUTIFUL here.  It is all hill-y and covered in trees.  And there are actually store and places you can shop!

Even though there isn't a wal-mart....  Which is super sad.  Because Safeway is super expensive!

I thought I was the time of girl who could be all farmy and stuff... but nope.  I am a city girl ALL THE WAY.

(:

Anyway!  I am in a Spanish branch here.  Which is so amazing!  I feel like a greeny again...  Mostly because I don't understand anything.  Yep. I thought I knew something, but I don't.

Hopefully by the end of these 6+ weeks here I will have some idea of what is going on.

So Sister Fredrickson is my new companion.  She is from Texas and she is just so sweet and so fun!  I already love her to death!  We are definitely going to tear this place up!

And we are opening the area here.  Which is the same thing I did up in my last area... SO basically we have nothing and we get to start from scratch(:  Which always has its perks!  We get to talk to a lot of people.  So that is fun!

We are living in the basement of this adorable couple.  She is from the Dominican Republic.  And he is from Italy.  And he happens to be a retired chef.

And I happen to be in HEAVEN because we eat there once a week.

I don't know why I get so spoiled sometimes.

Also, the members here really feed us.  Like dinner every night!  So that is just amazing.  Holy cow.  I have got to start running...

But yeah!  Oh! It rained the other day.  Like poured.  That is not something I have had to deal with yet... So that was exciting.  

And the traffic poses its own adventures as well.

Basically life here is extremely different.  And it is sad to not be with the people I grew to love, but I know I am supposed to be here.  It is hard, but when is life easy?(:  

 And for anyone who loves me, or who doesn't love me but still wants to make my day, feel free to send me surprises to my new address which is:

31 Carroll Ct.

San Rafael, CA 94903

I love you all and have an amazing week!

Remember who you are!

Sept 16

Well... this is a sad day.  I am leaving good old Clearlake.

Words will never be able to describe just how unique this place is.

I will never have experiences where we are driving through a neighborhood and almost die because this is ahead 

Nor will I get to wear some awesome authentic Panchos...

Nor will my mission leader have an amazing curly mustache

But... I guess it is time for me to leave home.

And I am leaving to go to San Rafael... which is in the southernmost part of our mission.  It is in the bay area, right about San Francisco.

In other words, I am going from this super secluded small town where there are only two roads going in and out to a big city on the coast.

This should be interesting....

I am definitely going to miss Sister Chavez!  And this whole zone!  The missionaries here are phenomenal.  Ah, they are so good.  And the people here are so amazing too.  I am so heartbroken to have to leave them...

You get so attached!  It is kinda unfair to be a missionary sometimes.  You can't afford not to open up and love them, but then you do and you have to leave/:  It is especially hard because you do everything that you can to make sure these people are doing the right things.  And when you leave, your biggest fear is that they will fall back into old habits or lose sight of who they are. 

But I can only imagine how sad Heavenly Father gets when He has to send us all down here to Earth.  He knows He has to let us go, but He is terrified that we are going to do the same thing, lose sight of ourselves!

Don't lose sight of who you truly are!

So funny story of the week...

On Monday, I had a mini breakdown because I was pretty sure I had completely forgotten how to cook and that escalated into me thinking that I am never going to get married, and if I do, my kids and husband will die of starvation.

Anyway, it was a moment.  So I decided I needed tor redeem myself and make some of my mom's good old Chicken Pot Pie!

Well... int the process of trying to buy everything, I locked the keys in the car.

Worst thing ever.

Luckily, the Zone Leaders are amazing and came and somehow broke into the car and got them out.  I am pretty sure it was only possible because we said a prayer beforehand.

PRAYER WORKS!

So... the adventure continued and with a few more disasters, we finally made some good old Chicken Pot Pie.  And my companion actually liked it!  (With Valentina, of course.)

Bottom line, I think I will be able to continue living.

I love you all so much!  Keep up the good work and don't forget that you were made to shine!

September 9

I feel really lame for not really having anything to report this week...

My companion and I have been working SO hard trying to find people to teach on Facebook and Skype.

We have seen results, too!  The work is hastening!

I guess all I have to say is that I love you all so much.  I am so grateful for every single person I have ever met.  Seriously.  I owe who I am today to those people around me.  I have been given so much and I have so much to be grateful for!  Including every single one of you who has helped me, put a smile on my face, prayed for me, sent me love, made me feel good about myself... etc.  I am such a lucky person.  And I love all of you so much!

When times get too hard to stand, kneel.

You can do this life, thing.  Sometimes it is hard,  but when you unite with those around you, then everything falls into place.

Don't judge, and treasure every single person around you, especially your family.

"NEVER let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved." (President Monson)

I have a testimony of that.  I know that every one needs loved.  Nobody deserves to be hated.

And I love you all.  If you didn't know that before, I am so sorry.

I LOVE YOU!

September 2

Today the miracle is named David Ruiz.

And he is amazing.

Here we go.  We first met David our third week here in Clearlake.  We were teaching a different man (this was my first lesson ever) when this man, totally drunk out of his mind came up to us.  His wife was on the phone with him, yelling at him because she wanted him to get his life straightened out.  

So he started talking to Sister Chavez, asking if we taught about Jesus.  Of course, she said yes and totally ditched me from the lesson.  Mind you, this was our third week and I had no idea how to communicate with anyone.  So I just kind of stood there while Sister Chavez was talking to this guy.

I hate to admit that I was so confused.  Clearly he was not in a good place.

But he wanted to change, and that is all that matters.

So we started teaching him.

He talks faster than any other spanish speaker I have heard.  Holy cow.

At first, I thought nope.  I cannot do this.  I can't understand him, he is always talking, he is always drunk, he has a long time until he can make these changes.

But then Sister Chavez and I really started to realize how amazing he is.  And now, he is one of our favorite investigators to teach.

I mean, members to teach(:

Yep, that is right.

Meet Brother Ruiz.

Because he is amazing. And he has overcome to much.  So much.

There are not words to describe how far he has come.  Because he is one of the strongest people I have ever met in my entire life.  

My life has changed because of David Ruiz(:

Moral of the story:

Do not judge(:  Because legit, you don't know who they are to become.

In other news.  We had to go to Lakeport to get some stuff figured out when on the way, our Check Tire light came on.

No big deal, I thought.  We can do this.

So we went to the gas station and started fiddling around with things.  I had seen my mom fill up tires plenty of times- what would be so different about this?

Well. We figured it out sorta... and then Sister Chavez decided we needed to check our oil.

Yep.... we ended up calling the Elders and they came and did it for us(:

As excited as we were to get a truck, we decided that we have a lot more learning to do when it comes to cars...

Well. I love you all so much.  

Remember, "it was the worst of times, it was the best of times"

Right now is the best of times(:

August 26

D&C 88:73

"Behold, I will hasten the work in its time"

The time is now.

The Santa Rosa, CA mission is the first mission in the WORLD to get iPads as a mission.  But it is more than that.

We are now able to teach people from all over the world.

Friends, family, your friends, your family.

The time is now.

Mosiah 16:1

"The time shall come when all shall see the salvation of the Lord; when ever nation, kindred, tongue, and people shall see eye to eye"

How is this possible?  Missionaries aren't even allowed in China.

Well... you can see eye to eye over Skype(:

Because we can do that now!

Prophesy is being fulfilled, and the Gospel is being brought to every single person(:

Other than that, the work is progressing!

Things are moving forward.  And next week I will have a lot more to report!

Missionaries are definitely being kept busy!

August 19th

So this last week was just very difficult.  It is awful because missions just make you like emotional monsters!  Seriously one week I am fine and then the next I am just bawling.  It is embarrassing. 

Anyway!

Missions also do this really funny thing and somehow you recognize like EVERYONE you ever see.  Seriously I see someone and I am like hmm.  I think I know you.

It is crazy!  I guess we were just friends in the pre-earth life.

Sorry this is so scatter brained.  P-Days are really stressful. . .

I can't think of everything I need to say!

oh!

So on Saturday night at 9:15 at night, we got a text from our mission President, President Alba.  And he said that he wanted me and two others sisters to sing Joseph Smith's First Prayer at Stake Conference... the next morning!

So we made the 2 hour drive to the stake center in Ukiah on the scariest road ever (I don't know what it is about Northern Cali, but these roads are just out of control) and we totally winged this three part A Capella rendition in the middle of his talk- just like he wanted.

I have never shaken so much in my entire life.  Seriously every single muscle I had was convulsing.  It was to the point where I wasn't sure if I was nervous or going into epileptic shock.

But I am alive to tell the tale!

So that is good news!

Other than that, this week has been very humbling.  I have learned that the best way to get through hard times is to forget yourself and go to work.  Even if you think you cannot keep going, you just have to keep going.

and somehow, you get through it(:

So that is my invitation to ya'll.  Look for the Lord's hand pushing you through those hard times.

And pray for him to help you.

Because I know He will.  And I can promise you that He will.

Love,

Sister Bryant