Week 19- Journal-Worthy Events

“The true key to happiness is to labor for the happiness of others.” -True to the Faith

Hello, hello, hello!!

How is my dear family this week? I hope all is going well. I have had some journal- worthy events this week. The first is that I gave a talk in Sacrament meeting yesterday. I knew it was only a matter of time before I was asked to give one. Pres. Flores asked me Saturday night. On Sunday morning, I was up at the pulpit, speaking in Spanish. It went pretty well and wasn’t as hard to write as I thought it would be. I talked about the Book of Mormon and how important it is to read daily personally as well as with your family everyday to benefit from it. I truly believe that if more families in our little branch took the extra time and effort to read the Book of Mormon as a family everyday, that the love in the branch would increase and the Spirit and the overall unity would grow. I challenged every family to do so. We are promised so many blessings from reading this book! I have grown to love it so much more since I have been on my mission. So that is my challenge to everyone, to read the Book of Mormon for at least 10 minutes everyday with your family.

Another journal-worthy event this week was my first splits with a member. Hermana Astle wasn’t feeling well again for part of the week and so I decided to venture out on my own and preach the Gospel. Any junior companion knows that they can rely on their senior companion a little bit if they don’t quite know how to say something in Spanish but going out with a Paraguayan meant I was teaching the whole lesson SOLO, in charge of everything. Basically it was like a moment of truth..here I am going off on a cold night in Paraguay and it was up to me to understand everything, teach everything, respond to everything. It went WELL! It was a little nerve wracking but I did it. I taught a less-active member and then a 16-year-old girl, named Cristal as well, about the Book of Mormon. I am pretty sure some of the grammar principles went out the window, but they knew what I was trying to say and the Spirit made up for the rest. The gift of tongues is so cool!

So changes (transfers) are coming up NEXT week. Si o si, I am staying in Kokuere. President Madariaga likes to keep missionaries in the same area for 4-5 changes. But the question is, will I get a new companion? My companion has had five changes here already, which usually means it’s time to go. Maybe I will get a Latina companion and then my Spanish will really take off. If Hermana Astle does leave, you can expect some sweet pictures because we get to bring our camera around if one of the companions is leaving. We will see. I LOVE the members in our little branch. I wish they would understand the importance of helping the missionaries in the work more, though. Everyone here is first-generation members so they are still learning a lot about callings and their responsibilities. Even so, they are like my family.

Something that I am grateful for is that I was taught how to pray when I was a little child. Every time we meet someone we teach them how to pray the correct way. A lot of people recite prayers here- they don’t realize that you can speak directly to Heavenly Father like you are having a conversation. And a lot of people pray to and worship the Virgin Mary and Saints. I respect the Virgin Mary but I am so tired of hearing about her! I am grateful that I can have a relationship with God, my loving Heavenly Father, through prayer. It is a great blessing in my life.

Well, enjoy the sun and summer because it is finally winter here! Some days are pretty chilly- it’s like cold with humidity, and other days are not quite as cold. Don’t worry though, we bundle up and stay warm. Usually the members give us hot chocolate and bread. Yum yum.

Well, that´s all, folks!!

Until next week,

Hermana Brittner

Week 18- What will you do with the time you have left?

¨For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.¨ Alma 34:32

Well hello again!!

Another week has passed here in Kokuere and I am still as healthy as can be, por suerte. My companion on the other hand, did not have this luck. She has been really tired and so we figured something must be wrong. We got to go to Asunción on Wednesday to see the area doctor. I love going to Asunción! It usually means letters, packages, seeing other missionaries and sometimes even Burger King! You never know how much you could love Burger King until you live in Paraguay for a few months. So we went to see Dr, Hollingsworth, who is actually from Cardston, Alberta. Go figure! So we had a little consultation, she got a few tests and they concluded that she had parasites!! How terrible. But the good news is that with a few little pills, those pinworms are now gone! Between she and I, we have had 5 trips to the hospital/clinic/doctor in the past 2 1/2 months. The cool thing is that I have been able to rub shoulders with the nurse and the doctor who are on missions here and see what they do. It makes me really want to go on a medical mission as a nurse when I am older! Or a humanitarian mission. It would be sweet. But anyhow, back to my current mission. We are both finally in good health and ready to rock and roll! For the past two changes, one of us has always been sick and so I still don’t feel like I have gotten the true mission experience of working day in and day out. But that is about to change. And I am so excited!!

So more health news. An elder in my zone got dengue again (Elder Balanzategui, who actually went to Deer Valley High School for a year- small world, right?) and had to be hospitalized for 6 days here. And now he has been reassigned to Argentina, so as to avoid the danger of getting dengue a third time, which is very, very serious. So please keep him in your prayers. Rumor has it that the problem with missionaries getting dengue is going to be reviewed by the First Presidency, as in what to do if a missionary gets dengue. Should they be reassigned somewhere else? It is kind of worrisome, because if they send missionaries who get dengue somewhere else...that would include me. But of course, that is just a rumor right now, but in the meantime, I am covering myself in bug spray every time I leave the house.

It’s got me thinking...what will I do with the time that is left? Every missionary knows that they have a time restraint- 18 months for hermanas and 2 years for elders- everyday that I am in the service of my Heavenly Father is truly a gift from him. Because nothing in this life is guaranteed. In fact, our very tomorrow isn’t even guaranteed. And so what will we do with the time that is left? My mom told me an interesting thought...that all of our days are numbered...it’s as though we each have a countdown or a timeline of our lives and we don’t ever know when it will be up. Not to sound morbid, but death is something that will come to each of us. Those are the only guarantees in life, right- death and taxes? I would like to add that the covenants we make here- baptism, the temple- those are permanent as well and the sealing power of families- that families can be together forever after this life- and these are covenants only found in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. D & C 124:93, ¨whatsoever he shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever he shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.¨ And so it makes one think...what do I want to do, what do I want to become.., as a missionary, as a person, in this period of my life? Because before we know it, this period, this stage, this time will be over. And we better have given it all we have in the time we were given. This situation of my fellow missionary was just another reminder to me to live more fully, laugh a little louder, love a little more and make the most of each day that God has given us as a gift to learn and to grow and to become more like Him.

Speaking of sealing ordinances, congrats, Leslie and Dano on your marriage!! I am SO happy for you and was thinking about you all day on Thursday...send pics soon!! And I was thinking...even though I couldn’t go to your sealing, I hope you can come to mine...but give me a few years. ;)

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Brittner

PS: I almost forgot...we found the little rat!! Por suerte, he died somewhere we could see him. We found his little tail sticking out from under our closet...he must have died on the way in. My brave companion pulled him out by the tail and we put a little RIP sign on his bag before we threw him away.

Week 17- Kokuere

Hello everyone!

Another week in Paraguay! Well, this week I have an interesting story to tell, as usual. A few nights ago, I woke up to the sound of a plastic bag being moved around and I thought I was going crazy. I fell back asleep and an hour later at 4 AM I woke up again and woke up my companion as well. We were sure there was a rat in our room! We decided to find the little rascal and a full blown search commenced, looking in every drawer, nook and cranny in our closet. An hour and a half later and we still had not found it. Of course, we didn’t really want to find it because that would mean we would have to figure out what to do with it but we needed to find it. The next night, we hear it again but go back to sleep and decide to buy some rat poison. So we buy it and leave it out, with our new slogan being “kill the beast!” We didn’t think anymore of it until my companion was talking on the phone in Spanish to a member, getting ready to leave and she screamed in ENGLISH while on the phone, “Oh my gosh Hermana! There’s a rat in our house!!” We trapped the beast in the kitchen by closing the door and then stood on the countertops while it ran around (what would you have done?). It was living behind our fridge and stove. We tried hitting it with a broom, chasing it and doing all manner of things to it, all the while filming it on our cameras. It was pretty entertaining. Too bad I can’t put it on youtube for 16 more months. Anyhow, we had to go to an appt. and so we decided to leave it in the kitchen and let it eat the poison and die. Great plan, right? Yes, except we found it’s droppings all over our counters. So today for Pday we deep cleaned our house and we were sure we would find it’s dead little body somewhere. Unfortunately, it is still nowhere to be found. So we are just waiting for it’s carcass to start stinking in the next couple of days so we can follow the stench to it’s dead body. Living in Paraguay is such an adventure, right? All of the elders have rats living in their houses too, and there is a little mouse living under the sacrament table in the chapel as well.

That was our excitement for the week and we hope to have no more like it! I was thinking, I am sure you are all curious about Paraguayan cuisine so I thought I would give you a quick lesson:
1. Deep fry it in lots of sunflower oil.
2. Serve with mandioca (it’s like eating a baked potato) or pan (bread).

That’s all. Every lunch appointment we have, we eat noodles cooked in oil, some type of meat mixed in and sauce with mandioca or bread. For this reason, I think I have gained 10 lbs. Paraguayans are really blunt and so they haven’t been shy about telling my companion and I that we are both getting a pansa (stomach) that wasn’t there before. So my companion and I have begun to speed walk everywhere we go in hopes of burning some extra calories. It’s pretty entertaining to see how fast we can get places, all the while counting how many times we get snaked.

The work is good and I am glad to be doing it. We had one of the inactive boys, Jose, (he’s 15) pass the sacrament on Sunday which was really cool. He has just come back to church. He didn’t come before because he didn’t have shoes to wear to church and he was just lazy (he told us this). When I think about the sacrifices that people have to make to come to church here, it really makes me admire them. This kid had to wash his church clothes by hand in a tire with some soap, hang them on the clothes line and then iron them. Then wake up at 6 AM while the rest of his family slept and his friends of course, were sleeping in and catch a collectivo at 7 AM to get to the chapel by 8 AM. He had to quietly leave his one room house made out of sticks and cardboard, so that he wouldn’t wake up his family. It wasn’t easy or convenient for him. But it was the right thing to do. Because of his faith and his determination to do what is right, he will be blessed. While his friends are out doing whatever, he is at church. He is making good choices, preparing to go on a mission and to the temple. That is the kind of faith that moves mountains, changes lives and makes a difference in the world. He is a great example to me and I hope that I can have that kind of faith: to always do what is right, even when it isn’t convenient, popular or fun. I know that when we obey God’s commandments we are blessed, even when it’s not what everyone else it doing. I know that God loves all of his children and wishes to bless them. So keep the commandments!

Love,
Hermana Brittner

Week 16- This is Paraguay

“Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life...And then they shall know their Redeemer, who is Jesus Christ, the son of God; and then shall they be gathered in from the four quarters of the earth unto their own lands, from whence they have been dispersed; yea, as the Lord liveth so shall it be.” (3 Nephi 5:13, 26)

Hola Mom, Dad, Sisters, Friends!

This is Paraguay:

Green plants growing. The faint smell of burning trash wanders through the air. The pot cooks on the fire with food for dinner. Jagged wooden boards make a house. A small one-room shack with one mattress for the whole family. Kids run and play and roll around in the red dirt and laugh. Their brown eyes look up at me. Trash surrounds the outskirts of their house, where cows graze. A chicken walks across the yard. A kitten scampers through. The sun is setting: an orange and red glow in the distance.

Another day, another lesson, another house clapped, another song sung, another invitation given, another commitment made. “Soy un hijo de Dios,” we sing. For he truly is a child of God. That two-year-old with big brown eyes, sitting on a log, wearing a ripped, dirty shirt with a fly landing on his cheek, sucking on his fingers and giving me a shy smile. This is Paraguay and this is the message I bring. That we are all children of God. That despite everything bad that is in the world, despite the trials of life, despite our own weaknesses and inabilities, there is hope. “Hope is like the beam of sunlight rising up and above the horizon of our present circumstances.” - (Utchdorf, The Power of Infinite Hope.) And that hope comes through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It comes through the belief that we can someday live with our Father in Heaven again with our families. Because although we are imperfect, there is One who was not and it is through his Atonement that we can achieve these hopes. I have learned what is important to these people and in turn, I have learned what is important to me: my family, God, serving Him and the people of Paraguay with all my might, mind and strength.

How is life on the other side of the equator? My companion has been sick all weekend with some kind of flu/cold so we have spent a lot of time in the house. I am hoping that I don’t get what she has and that she gets better soon. We need to get to workin! On a brighter note, our branch president was so impressed with our song that we sang in Sacrament meeting that he is requesting that we do another special musical number at branch conference in two weeks. I am excited!! Things are starting to cool down here, but it hasn’t gotten cold yet, just cloudy mostly. My Spanish is improving poca a poca but I have found that my listening skills have increased far quicker than my speaking skills. This means that I usually can understand what’s going on but when it comes to speaking in comprehensive sentences to respond, that’s where it gets more difficult. One less active lady said that she likes listening to me talk because she can hear my English accent and she likes it. My mission president says my Spanish is ¨pleasing to the ear,¨ which is a good thing. So at least the natives like listening to me, even if I don’t sound Paraguayan (yet!)

Hope all is well! Thanks for the letters and love! And to all my BYU friends, I don’t know what addresses to send your letters to now that the semester is over, so you better write me again and let me know!!

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Brittner