Jan 27

I MADE IT THROUGH MY FIRST WEEK OF TRAINING!

Which actually wasn't too difficult.  I have a wonderful greenie.

Her name is Hermana Hardy.  She is from Palmer, Alaska.  She lived on a reindeer farm and had a pet domesticated Moose.  How adorable is that?

So we are definitely good friends!  It really isn't even like I am training.  She is so wonderful.  I am being taught much more than I am teaching her.  But it is still very stressful.  I definitely always have to be on my A-game.  So I am definitely seeing all the things I have to work on.  But it is good!  Very humbling.

This area is starting to bloom!  We are starting to find all of those people who are searching for the truth.  The Lord is hastening His work, for sure.  Therefore He is preparing so many more people!

The branch just had the first missionary to ever go on a mission in the branch come home.  It was wonderful to hear her words and I am just so excited for the moment when I get to say that I gave my all... but on the same note, it is nerve racking because I want to be completely honest when I say that!

I have got a ton of work to do!

Busy is my middle name out here!  There is never a dull moment in missionary work!

I think that is everything.

Oh.  Apparently California is in this drought or something (which still confuses me, because there is an ocean like 20 minutes away.) And everyone is complaining about how hot it is (it is like AZ temps... apparently I brought the sunshine with me haha) so CALI is fasting this next Sunday for rain....

I don't know how I feel about that because I know it is going to work and I am not too pumped about rain haha

But I am excited.  Rain is the best.  And whatever helps the people of California, right?

I love my mission.  I love the Gospel.  I know that Heavenly Father is so aware of me and all that I am doing out here.  He has never left me alone.  Whenever I feel like it is too much to handle, He sends little angels my way who give me the strength to carry on.

Tender mercies are real and I have received so many of them.

I feel your prayers and I know that is it is those prayers that keep me going(:

THE CHURCH IS TRUE!  And if you doubt it, pray(:

I love you all so much!

Love,

Hermana Bryant

Jan 20

At Camp Liahona they focused a LOT on "Banking on Blessings"

When we are obedient, we get blessings.  And there are specific blessings that coincide with specific commandments.  If we want the Windows of Heaven to be opened in our lives, pay your tithing.  That simple! (Also, much easier said than done.  I understand)

Anyway- this week we saw those blessings.

We met four AMAZING people who have clearly been prepared by God to hear the Gospel.  It was so exciting!  We have been struggling this entire transfer to try to find new people to teach.  We have been doing a lot of work with formers (people who were taught by missionaries in the past but for some reason or another stopped).... but that hasn't been proving to work very well.

"Where you look where everyone else has looked, you will find what everyone else has found"

So we started looking in different places and guess what?  We found some amazingly golden people.

I have a testimony of obedience!  We started contacting that 20 people a day and we immediately saw the blessings.  I know it was not coincidence.

I am going to try my best to illustrate to you the emotions of transfer week.

So each transfer lasts 6 weeks.  On the Friday night of week 6 we get a call from our Zone Leaders in which they explain our fate... if we will be staying, if we will be going, who our new companion will be... it is very nerve racking!

Sometimes President or Sister Alba will call you on Thursday to tell you if you are getting a special assignment (such as being a Zone Leader, District Leader, or STL [the girl version of those] or training).

So all of Thursday you are terrified because you are just waiting for the phone to vibrate and for Sister Alba to be on the screen.  That is such a scary, scary moment.

Well.

This Thursday Sister Andrews and I were teaching people on Facebook when the phone vibrated.

You can imagine the sinking feeling in my stomach when "Sister Alba" was on the caller ID.

So we answered and Sister Alba said, "Hello sisters!  Can I talk to Sister Andrews?"

PHEW!  Off the hook.

So she told her that she will be trunky transferred (the last transfer of her mission will be in a new area) to Rio Vista and that she will be an STL there.

And then... she said, "and Sister Bryant, can I talk to you?"

WHAT. NO NO NO!

She then proceeded to ask me to be an STL and to train.

I'M GONNA BE A MOM!!!! (For those of you who do not know, that means I am going to have a 'greenie' and I am going to be training her in the mission.)

And I am here to testify that The Lord calls us in our weakness.  I am terrified.  I feel so ill-prepared.  I do not know Spanish well enough.  Up to this point, all of my companions have been older than me in the mission and in actual age.  I am... humbled.  So humbled.

Apparently the Lord needs me to step up.  So step up is what I am going to have to do.

I think The Lord is pulling the sink or swim method on me... so hopefully I don't drown haha

If I do, goodbye.  It was so nice knowing ya'll!

Anyway. I love you.

Thank you for being so diligent and so wonderful.

The Lord loves you too!

Love,

Hermana Bryant

Jan 13

Well... I have 9 minutes.  And I write these things religiously to make sure that you all know I am still alive every week, but I don't think my dearest sister actually posts them all in the same week haha so... sorry about that haha

anway.

This week was crazy! 

On Tuesday, we felt like we needed to go to Sebastapol.  Which is this little ho-donk town on the outskirts of my area.  We had never gone there and from what we had heard, there was little to no Hispanic population.  So we went... on a whim, just following the Spirit.  We had one address to go visit.  So we put it in the GPS and arrived at our destination.  Except it didn't actually exist.  Which happens a lot in missionary work.  And it was frustrating because we don't really have the miles to be driving down to this town for no reason.

So I had the strongest impression to knock on this one door.

And we knocked and no one answered.  And we knocked again, no one.  So we knocked one more time and nothing.

And so we thought, well.  I guess we will go home.

So we started to walk towards the car when the door opened.  And we turned around and this man was standing in the doorway with crutches.  His name was Sergio and he started telling us his life story.  Turns out that he had been in an accident and tore a part of his spinal chord, but through a miracle was able to function.  He was talking about his turn around and his faith when he said, "I know you ladies are here for a reason!  You were in my dream last night.  I think this is a sign from God".

Yes.  It is indeed.

Miracles happen.  We are going back tonight to teach him more.  And I am so grateful for that opportunity that I had to drive down to the middle of nowhere and find one of God's lost sheep who was clearly waiting for us.

So that was an amazing start to the week.  We then went to camp...  I don't know if I mentioned this last week, but a few of us were chosen to go to a leadership camp (namely the STL's and Zl's... I am neither.  But I was one of the lucky few who was given the opportunity to go!  And it was life changing.  Exhausting, but life changing.  It was definitely the kick in he seat of the pants that I needed!  The biggest thing I learned is that you can take God very literally on His blessings.  And He has promised our mission that if we contact 20 new people a day and do some other things, we will baptize weekly.

And we can take that to the bank.

The promises in the scriptures are true- if they came from a representative of the Lord, then you can take them to the bank!

Seriously!

So do it!

Anyway, I am starting to get a little sick.. so please keep my health in your prayers. I do not want to die here in California haha

I LOVE YOU ALL!  Stay strong(:

Love,

Hermana Bryant

Jan 6

I officially have 6 minutes to write this... now 5.

So!  This week was crazy!

It was Pday, then district meeting and double exchanges (which means 2 days of me being the only one who could speak Spanish in my companionship), and New Years!  AH!  So exciting (well... not really.  It was just a normal day haha), and then Weekly Planning, Saturday, then church. 

And here I am again!

This transfer has BY FAR gone the fastest in my entire mission.  Probably because I love my companion more than everything.  She is just so wonderful!

And the holidays were perfect.  Thank you everyone for contributing to my happiness this Holiday Season!  It really was perfect.

So this last week I have had the opportunity to really think about this past year of my life.

It started off at college, with the plans to eventually go on a mission, I was working and involved in Women's Chorus... just kinda living life!  Then my dad died, and that put everything on hold.  I stopped thinking about the world- I stopped thinking about things like school, work, friends, everything.

And I started doubting going on a mission.  But then the confirmation came.  I knew I had to go.

So I did everything to just get out in the Vineyard of the Lord as fast as possible!

I got my call, the semester ended, I went to Ohio and Arizona to see all my family before I left,

And now I am here.

Can you believe it?  I can't.

This year has been the craziest of my life, but I have come to know my Heavenly Father more than I ever have before.  I know that He loves me.  I have an unshaking testimony of Missionary Work and Obedience.

11/12 months of this next year will be spent on my mission.  It is so strange to think that.  It seems so far away, but on the same note, I cannot imagine myself being home.  I think I have finally adjusted!  I love this work more than anything.  This is the greatest decision of my life.  It is hard, so hard.  But it is so worth it.

The Gospel is worth it.

This next week will fly by again (I am going CAMPING!!! Don't worry, you will get full details next week), and then the transfer is over.

So. Crazy.

There is just not enough time in this work to waste.  And I am grateful that after my mission I still get to serve and share the Gospel.

Stay strong everyone!

Make 2014 the best year of your life thus far, because I know it will be in mine!

Love,

Hermana Bryant

Dec 30

OH MY GOODNESS I LOVE CHRISTMAS ON MISSIONS!

It really throws everything off, but it is just so wonderful to be around when everyone has the Spirit of Christ.  And maybe they don't want to meet with you, but they at least listen to you carol(:  So that is so sweet!

But let's just say that I have been Christmas music-ed out.

What else....

This week I had this wonderful opportunity to eat at a restaurant called Sazon that one of our less actives owns.

And it is a Peruvian restaurant.

And I felt like I was living in The Emperor's New Groove.  I am not even kidding.  Like the music and the decorations and everything.  It was just perfect.  I just wanted them to serve me like a giant beetle that I could hit with a stick... but they didn't.  I ate shrimp mango ceviche instead (oh yeah... it was just as good as it sounds).

Sometimes serving in the states has its perks(;

So yeah!  Super exciting.

I have been stressing out about new year's goals. So that has been occupying my mind for forever...

I think I have finally come up with some realistic goals.  Because I am so lucky that 11/12 months this year will be occupied by my mission!

So exciting!

Anyway,

I guess Christmas and Peruvian food was the theme of this last week.

And it was just wonderful(:

I LOVE YOU ALL!

The church is true and I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to an amazing new year!

BTW, watch this.  Because I love it and it has really helped me(:

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=910930409001