“Forget yourself and go to work! Olivdàte de ti mismo y ponte a trabajar!!”–advice given to President Hinckley when he was a missionary
Feb. 27, 2012
My dearest family and friends,
I have to tell you about this awesome convert who was baptized right before I arrived in Villa Hayes. His name is Cleto and he runs a house for travelers from the Chaco. He is a Chaco man who speaks just enough Spanish to get by, but mainly Guaraní. He houses Chaco indigenous Indians who are passing through Villa Hayes en route from the Chaco to Asuncion. He is a great convert, who loves to share the Gospel. It truly shows the gift of tongues because even though he doesn’t understand everything we say, the Spirit testifies to him the truthfulness of it. He is usually one of the first people to arrive at church on Sundays. When we go to his house to visit him, there are usually about 20 Chaco people sitting outside, who don’t speak Spanish and just stare at us unceasingly with a scowl on their face because they have never seen a white person and apparently in their culture, they don’t smile much. But we go in and Cleto gathers a circle of Chaco men to listen to us sing and teach and explains about the Church and his testimony in Guaraní beforehand. They sit around sippin terere(tea). Blame it on my vivid childhood imagination, but I can’t help but think about the indians in Disney’s Peter Pan movie who sat around in a circle, with dark, dark skin smoking pipes. It’s just like that but they drink terere instead. I never would have dreamed in a million years that I would be sharing the Gospel and my testimony with this Indigenous people in their native land in the Chaco of Paraguay. The Gospel really is for every people all over the world because it is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for God’s children, regardless of race, gender, social or economical status.
Where has February gone? Well, this week went by pretty fast, unfortunately without any news on the investigator front. We had a ton of people commit to coming to church but when Sunday morning rolled around, no one showed, not even Sergio. It has been pretty rainy this week and rain here in Villa Hayes means mud because they do not have cobblestone roads, just dirt roads with little pebbles which turns into MUD when it rains. So we trudged from one neighborhood to the next, with 5 pounds of mud sticking to our shoes, umbrella in my hand, whereas Hermana deVries had her hood on because her umbrella broke. Let me just tell you, it’s tough working in an area with very few strong members. Missionary work without a strong branch or members- it just doesn’t work. Missionaries cannot do their job without members and so we are still having trouble finding new investigators. Pres. Madariaga has advised us to work with the less-actives, the recent convert lists (only 3 out of 10 recent converts are active here) and the lists of youth over 8 who have not been baptized. So that is who we are working with.
Another thing our mission is focusing on is more contacting but not clappìng houses. It is more of an effort to always be talking to people and never pass up an opportunity to share with others as we are walking around, doing our normal missionary routine. Our zone leader committed all of us to talking to more people every time we ride a colectivo/bus. It’s kind of fun- you have the people who don’t want to talk to you at all- and those who are really friendly. It’s been quite interesting and I don’t know what I will do someday when I am back to after-mission life at BYU and I can’t start talking to people about Jesus Christ 5 minutes after I meet them!
We also had zone conference which was pretty cool, even though we had to wake up at 5 AM to get there on time. We learned a lot about charity and how we need to have charity for the people we teach and with whom we work. Also, Elder Giovanni of the 70 (of the area? I don’t know which) talked about Alma 5 and how when we are truly converted to the Gospel it shows on our face and in our heart. I have never noticed that so much until I became a missionary. So many walk around in this world looking depressed, miserable, like they hate their life and it’s just sad because they don’t have the hope and light of the Gospel and it’s even sadder when we give them the opportunity to learn about the Gospel and they openly reject it. The devil is so clever and his only objective is to make us miserable. There is only one way to be truly happy- follow Christ. There are only two teams and in the end, we know that the winners are those on Christ’s team- not only in the end, but right now, as well.
I can honestly say that the Gospel is what brings hope, happiness and light into my life and it means everything to me. I know that Heavenly Father loves each one of us and only wants us to be happy and grow to become like Jesus Christ.
I love you all and thank you for your continued support! Thank you, Ruth, for the wonderful package which truly brightened my day! You are great!
Love,
Hermana Brittner
Week 54- People from the Chaco
Week 53- Bugs, Bugs, Bugs!
“...Ye see that God will support, and keep, and preserve us, so long as we are faithful unto Him, and unto our faith, and our religion; and never will the Lord suffer that we shall be destroyed except we should fall into transgression and deny our faith.” Alma 44:4, The Book of Mormon
Feb. 20, 2012
So imagine that you are sitting down to have a nice bowl of ice cream after a long hot day spent proselyting and walking in the sun. You sit down at the table where your companion is and pick up the spoon. You look down and see a little black something on the top and assume it is a cookie from the cookies n´ cream ice cream that has snuck on there. But time has taught you to always examine your food a little closer while living in Paraguay so you look a bit closer and realize that it isn’t a cookie but a beetle. Does that stop you from eating the ice cream? No, you just paid two mil for that! So you scoop it off onto the table and dig in. Just another day in Paraguay.
Alright, so I have received a few questions from my little sisters about bugs. “Have you seen a spider yet?” “Are the bugs big there?”, so I thought I would satisfy their curiosity. Yes, I have seen a spider. In fact, many, many spiders. There are lots of spiders, mosquitoes and flies. Tons of flies. Sometimes you walk into someone’s house and their table has about 30 flies on it. They have ants here that are about three times the normal size. They also have the regular ants as well. We find spiders all the time at our house but I am getting really good at killing them. I am a spider killing machine! I usually just grab my flip flop off my foot and smack it dead. Or if I don’t have my flip flops I just smack it with my hand. No biggie. I realized a while ago that it has become perfectly normal to have numerous spiders, ants, flies and mosquitoes land or fly on you in the middle of a discussion, and you just constantly smack them casually while continuing to talk about Joseph Smith’s first vision.
Well, this week was a good one. No weird sicknesses, no unexpected changes. We had a 12-year-old investigator come to church. His name is Sergio and he is a ´guapo,´ in the Paraguayan sense of the word, meaning awesome. The previous hermanas used to teach him but dropped him because he couldn’t get permission from his dad to get baptized. Well, he walked to church alone, wearing a white shirt and black slacks but only woke up in time to get to Sacrament meeting. He is a really cute kid, I only wish that his parents would show some interest so that he would be able to have the support and help of his family.
As missionaries, we often go to investigator’s homes on Sunday morning to walk with them to church so they don’t have to go alone. It is always an act of faith to go pick up investigators because you never know if they will really end up going with you, even if they already said they would. This Sunday we walked 40 minutes out of our way to an investigator’s house, only to be told that they wouldn’t be going with us and then walked another 30 minutes to church. It’s just part of the work. It’s an act of hope that this family will make whatever sacrifice is necessary to go to church and change their lives and that they will realize the importance of church.
The district (like the stake but we are in branches, instead of wards) came to our branch this Sunday and we were 10 minutes late because we had gone to pick up our investigators. Only the 3 members of the district that had shown up to the Relief Society meeting and not a single soul from our branch was there, not even a member of the presidency or the person who was assigned to teach. It’s a little bit discouraging and sad to see the lack of interest that many members have here. As you can tell, it is a struggling little branch that can use all the help they can get.
We are struggling to find new investigators who are willing to make changes and sacrifices to follow Christ. We have had quite a few lessons. Getting in the door usually isn’t the hard part, it seems the people here are very open to our visits, but finding the chosen who are willing to change is the hard part. Many people here believe that which ever church you go to is fine and they are all the same. They all talk about God. I know without a shadow of a doubt that all churches are NOT the same. There is only one true church which has been restored to the earth in these latter-days. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has the authority- the Priesthood of God and a living prophet. I have never been more certain of this fact- that the Church is true. There is no replacement or any other way that a man can be saved except he is baptized by those who hold the proper authority. I know that the boy Joseph Smith saw Jesus Christ and God in a grove of trees and through his humility, God called him to be a prophet. These truths and the power that has been restored, makes it possible for us to return to live with God and our families together forever some day.
I am happy and working hard. These trials are just part of the work and part of life! What doesn’t kill me only makes me stronger. You may wonder how I like living in the “country.” Let’s just say that I have decided that I never want to live farther than 10 minutes away from a Super Wal-Mart. Today we went to my old area (the city) to go grocery shopping, which was cool. Kind of weird to be back but I enjoyed it. Loma is my homeland and Villa Hayes is something to which I am adjusting. My district and companion are awesome and we are becoming really good friends. It’s amazing how the “country-life” brings people together!
Love always,
Hermana Brittner
Week 52- A Sunrise to Remember!
February 13, 2012
It’s 6:30 in the morning and I can hear my breathing as I begin jogging. I realize quickly how living in Paraguay has taken a toll on me and how out of shape I am. We run along the cobblestone streets and then we turn the corner and I see it: the view of the Rio Paraguay. It’s breathtaking, a huge orange sun sitting right on top the water. The rays of the sun reach high into the sky and then sparkle on the water, glistening golden orange. It is absolutely gorgeous and I jog along the road, not taking my eyes off of this beautiful sight. A cool breeze runs through my hair, and attempts to dry my sweaty face. I capture this moment in my mind and think to myself, “I doubt anywhere else in the world has sunrises as beautiful as Paraguay.”
Today we went to the Rio Paraguay for P-day and went fishing. It was pretty cool- but more cool to say we did it, than to actually have been doing it. Does that make sense? Bucket List: Go fishing on the river Paraguay. Check. The water is actually pretty murky and there are cows that graze right on the shore. One of the elders actually caught a fish and then gave it to a Paraguayan. It was fun and I think that the locals got a kick out of watching us try to fish. We bought a reel that was made out of a soda bottle with some worms and went at it. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to live in a place where you don’t have to wipe the sweat dripping down your face every 5 minutes. But summer won’t be over for a while, so I guess it will be a while before I know. The only time in my life that I can remember being this hot was when I would have soccer games at 2:00 in 110 degree weather in Antioch, and I would have to run for a half that lasted 45 minutes straight.
How was my week? Well, let me explain something. There comes a time in every hermana´s mission when your stomach has just had enough of South American culture. It might be the food. It might be the wáter. It might be the heat. It could be a parasite. We just don’t know. But this week it was Hermana deVries stomach that had had enough and she got sick. This meant we spent a large portion of the week in the house. Needless to say, all of my letters are completely organized, the house is spotless, I have watched every dvd in the house and I even snuck in a few siestas. This also means that we didn’t work very much and thus, I do not have very many exciting new investigator stories to tell you. The sad news is that our cute little old Paraguayan couple and granddaughter told us that they weren’t going to be able to go to church again or read the Book of Mormon because they are just too old (or so they say). They do have a lot of health issues and a little bit of a language barrier (they mostly speak Guarani), however, all I see as a missionary are the blessings that they will not receive. The Lord has always required sacrifice from his people and those who are not willing to change and sacrifice for the Lord cannot expect to receive the full reward that Heavenly Father would like to give them.
I spoke in Sacrament Meeting, which I have a feeling I will be doing quite often in this little branch. I spoke about the doctrine of Christ and what it says in Preach My Gospel. The central purpose of this life is to repent and put our will and lives in harmony with the will of God. The Gospel is so cool. Everything is in our favor to return to live with God. He has made the plan in our favor, all of it made possible through our Savior, Jesus Christ. It’s just up to us to give God the only thing that is truly ours to give: our will. We must make the choice to follow Him.
I didn’t get to see the World Leadership Broadcast but I heard it was good and focused a lot on rescuing less-actives. I was glad to hear that because it is something that is much needed. I just read the World Report from 2008, which talks all about the family and it was excellent. Someday when I am a mom, I am not going to order parenting magazines- I am just going to read the Ensign.
Well, hope everyone is well and that you are enjoying winter and perhaps snow (what is that?).
Love always,
Your favorite hermana in Paraguay,
Hermana Brittner
PS. What is a cake pop?? Any news on David Archuleta’s mission call?
Week 51- Call me La Chaqueña!
“Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit and resign yourself to the influence of each. Grow green with the Spring, ripe and yellow with the Autumn.” -Henry David Thoreau
Chaqueña- Chaco dweller
Feb. 6, 2012 (one year since my farewell talk)
Dearest family,
WELCOME TO VILLA HAYES! I have officially left the city and I am now in Villa Hayes which is past San Jorge and Mariano and across the river Paraguay, about a half hour from Loma. It is like a whole different world out here. First of all, I have never seen so many cows in my entire life, just wandering the streets. Also, I have seen horses, lambs, goats, ducks, a weird animal that looks like an anteater and a raccoon mixed (I only know the name in guarani) and pigs as big as horses. Many people here are the Indigenous people from the Chaco. They look like they came straight out of the Chaco. It’s really cool! Compared to their dark skin I don’t look tan at all, and I thought I actually was. Basically everyone here speaks Guarani at home and if we are lucky, Spanish too. Many people have family who work in the Chaco. The main sources of employment here come from a soap factory, iron factory, rock factory and there are a few fishermen. My apartment is two blocks from the Rio Paraguay and we are going to start running there every morning! There is no grocery store here, so we have to travel to Mariano Roque Alonso (45 minutes one way) to go grocery shopping or else go to little corner stores. Also, we have hardly any lunch appointments. Living in Loma spoiled me. I am going to be trying my hand at cooking with very limited resources. Wish me luck =)
This is the only area that my new companion has served in. She has been here for 3 changes/transfers. Her name is Tiffany deVries and she’s from Sparks, NV. I’m not sure how we didn’t know each other at BYU since we both lived at Liberty Square at the same time and she was in Sara Crase’s ward. She is studying to be a P.A. and loves sports, so we have a lot in common. She is a really hard worker so I can tell it’s going to be a good change/transfer.
The branch is really struggling here with a ward attendance of 40 each week. Seven of them are an American family. We had a miracle yesterday when a family who we were teaching came to church! We share the gospel message with tons of people who tell us they will come, but most the time they don’t. This family however was there when we walked in at 8:AM!! Juan who is 82 and partially blind, is a hilarious old Paraguayan man. His wife Maria and their 11 year old granddaughter Yohana, came as well. It was so awesome! Unfortunately, they only stayed through the first hour because someone wanted to rent their canoe but we will work on that. Juan told us, “I have been waiting to read the Book of Mormon! That’s what I want to do!!” Maria is a cute little Paraguayan lady and Yohana is cute and reads the Book of Mormon to them aloud. Also, a random contact that the previous hermanas found before I arrived came to church as well! Exciting potentials! We taught Relief Society and Gospel Principles and next week I’m giving a talk so most likely I will be teaching all three hours.
Mom, you asked about the different kinds of fruit they have here. They have limes, but not lemons, so they call limes lemons. They also have a fruit called mburucuya (guarani word, don’t pronounce the m), which turns yellowish orange when it’s ripe and they make juice out of it. The juice makes you sleepy though- some kind of chemical it contains. Another fruit, Guayaba, which is green outside and pink inside, is used to make juice and jam. They are really good. So far all the areas I have served in have these types of trees, along with mango trees and other fruit trees which line the streets and backyards.
This week it has been soooo hot, but it’s also windier here, which is nice. We had a huge rainstorm that started while we were sitting on a porch teaching a lesson. We all looked at each other and decided to go inside to finish the lesson. Afterwards, the investigator looked at us like we were crazy, as we said 'chao' and headed out the door into knee-deep rain and waded through the streets. Oh and that evening, the power and the water went out. So we walked home very tired, dirty, and hot, and without light, until finally the power came on with the air conditioning.
Oh the adventures of Paraguay... I will keep you updated on our progress.
Sincerely,
Hermana Brittner
Week 50- Life is beautiful with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Life is beautiful with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Jan. 30, 2012
I think the sky is bigger in Paraguay. Maybe it’s because I’m outside walking around all day and not sitting in a car or in a classroom, but the sky just seems bigger. Looking up, I might see a clear blue sky with white puffy clouds on a hot day or the sun setting a deep orange and light pink at the end of a long day. I just love looking up and thinking about how God made this earth for us to enjoy. Regardless of what trials we are passing through, or where we live, or how old we are, or how much money we make, each morning we are given a brand new day and the ability to create our own world with the choices we make. The sun rises and sets on everyone. I’ve learned here in Paraguay, to take life one day at a time and focus on the challenges and opportunities at hand, instead of living in the future or the past. Today is the first day of the rest of your life. What will you do with it?
Well, this week was full of surprises. First off, I went on a division/split in Ybera Tuesday and Wednesday. This was a surprise because I found out the day before and they just started setting up divisions for hermanas which is really cool. Ybera is right next door to my first area, Kokuere and walking around there, it felt just like Kokuere. I realized what a city girl I have become living in Asunción with all of its luxuries for so long now. Like the fact that people in the city know how to read and write, they usually are educated and have careers, they might have a computer and shoes to play soccer in, they hardly speak Guarani in the city, and the meals they serve usually include more than one rice and meat. Yes, I have been very, very spoiled.
I found out that lunch was going to be at Cristina and Jorge’s home who were strong members from Kokuere, who had moved to Ybera. It was fun to see Christina again! Although I have to admit that when I found out that what she had cooked us was white rice and cow’s liver, I sort of lost my appetite. Welcome to the country!! Yes, I ate it and it wasn’t that bad. The texture was kind of different and it only made me feel weird when I started thinking about my anatomy class at BYU and working with cadavers and human livers. But don’t worry, we won’t get into that.
The other highlight of this adventure was meeting new members and investigators and having new companions for the day, Hermana Fonseka from Honduras and a local, Hermana Ocampos from Capiata. I had a great time and I realized that the work is the same wherever you go (Can I also mention that the house in Ybera does not have air conditioning in the bedroom? Torture!)
A cool experience: On Thursday I was walking in an area near our house on a division with Gabi and we got a reference from a member for her neighbor. We clapped her house and walked in and this lady told us that the night before, her son had been really upset because he had just left his church due to some drama and she had told him, “Don’t worry Son, tomorrow someone will come to our house to talk to us about God.” She started crying while telling us the story because the next day, we showed up. It was really cool and we had a great lesson with her and her son. We are going back to teach tonight. I don’t think they are ready to accept the Gospel but isn’t it wonderful to know that God answers prayers.
On Saturday Hermano Rojas called me to ask if I would give a talk in Sacrament Meeting which I agreed to. On Sunday, President Boyden, the Asuncion Temple President and his wife came to church (they are really nice) so my talk was limited to 5 minutes. I shared my testimony, a scripture and told the ward how much I love and appreciate them, since I am pretty sure I will be leaving here on Wednesday due to transfers/changes. My companions said that it sounded like my farewell speech, which it kind of was. I have learned so much and grown so much in this ward.
My last Sunday (I assume) was wonderful. We had the highest attendance I have seen in 7 months- a full chapel! Lots of less actives that we have been working with came, and one less active said that he wants to prepare to go on a mission! I also found out that my friend, Juan, has decided to go on a mission instead of getting married! That means that Loma has the potential to send out 4 elders this year! I am so excited!
Well, my dear friends and family, time is up! Hope the Davidson’s enjoy their time in Cali! Drink a slurpee for me!
Trunky moment: David Archuleta is going on a mission! Woot woot! Maybe he’ll come to Paraguay!
Con cariño,
Hermana Brittner
Week 49- Hot. Humid. Yep, that's Paraguay!
“I took the road less traveled and it has made all the difference.” Robert Frost
Jan. 23, 2012
Dearest family,
Checklist of things to grab before heading out the door
- umbrella for shade
- sunscreen
- bug spray with DEET to prevent dengue (again)
- washcloth (to wipe sweat off my face)
- the scriptures
- 1 liter water bottle, frozen (for the first 39 minutes)
- pamphlets to hand out
(Just a few items I use each day to survive in the hot Paraguayan sun.)
You may think you know hot, but you do not know hot until you have lived in Paraguay. I use to think I was hot when I walked from my air conditioned car into my air conditioned house. I had no clue what HOT was! There is a difference between living in America and living in a country that doesn’t know what air conditioning is, and walking around all day outside in the hot, humid Paraguayan sun, dripping in sweat. Please send me a slurpee in your next package!Today while dripping in sweat, I washed my own laundry by hand and it made me feel very Paraguayan. This is only because the laundry lady moved and we haven’t found somebody else yet. But really, for most people here it’s just a way of life.
Don’t worry I am enjoying myself even if I am melting away. I just thought I would give you of taste of Paraguay. I really love what I am doing. It is totally and completely worth it. As I am approaching my one year mark, I have had time to reflect on the choice that I made to serve a mission. I have thought a little about the sacrifice, but mostly, I have thought about the blessings. When I think about my mission and all that it means to me, I don’t have words to adequately describe the change it has made in my life and the change within me. It’s something that is so special and so important to me that I can’t really describe how much it means to me. Everyday I am learning new things about this Gospel and why it is just SO important because IT is the reason for this life. I can see how God has guided my life to this point and I have never been more positive that He will guide my future and bless me, as I follow Him.
We had a really awesome baptism yesterday of Josecito, a 9 yr old, who just got permission from his mom in Spain to be baptized. He is so sweet and sings extra loud in sacrament and is a really wonderful kid. The family prepared most of the baptismal service so we were just the buffers to make sure things went smoothly, like conducting, singing a musical number, bringing brownies and bearing my testimony. Unfortunately, we all got a little sick from some lomitos we ate on Friday (I will never eat them again!! They are like Paraguayan burritos.) It hit Hermana Reyes the hardest so she wasn’t able to attend church and stayed home with Hermana Tuaòne. I went on splits with Sara Jara, a ward member, to church, the baptism and a lunch appointment. Church was great because all the youth bore their testimonies about their experiences at EFY(Especially For Youth). They had a great time except that the food and/or water made half of the kids sick. Oh Paraguay. Sometimes it is a little underdeveloped here. Also, a young man got his mission call and shared his testimony so it was a very spiritual meeting. I am so glad that I didn’t miss church or Jose’s baptism! It’s amazing how children so young can have such an influence for good in their families and in the world.
We have been taking advantage of the fact that we are in a trio to do a lot of splits and it has been great. I love going out with the youth and teaching with them. Tomorrow I am going on splits to Ybera (right next to Kokuere) with Hermana Fonseca (from Honduras) and a local. This is a new program the mission has started to help us learn from one another. I am so excited.
I have been thinking a lot about what the scriptures say about being a 'chosen' one or someone with great faith who righteously follows Christ. Basically the conclusion that I’ve come to is that God does not choose the chosen, the chosen choose Him, over everything else.
Retention, retention, retention. This is a problem in Paraguay. I am not sure if it is the tranquilidad culture of Paraguay, or the fact that most Paraguayans were members of a different Church prior to joining this one and that Church required very little. Either way it is difficult for people to adjust to attending church every Sunday. Working with many less-active members, I have seen how easy it is to choose other things over God. Sometimes it is laziness, sometimes it is being offended and being angry, sometimes it is choosing the ways of the world. I have visited SO many less-actives that it is exhausting and sometimes discouraging. What I have learned from this is that I will NEVER go inactive! You will never find real happiness, choosing something or someone else over Christ. It is only through living the Gospel of Jesus Christ that you will be TRULY and ETERNALLY happy.
But “shall we not go on in so great a cause?” (Joseph Smith) The Church is true. I wouldn’t be walking around in 100+ degree weather if it wasn’t true. Jesus Christ and my Heavenly Father have blessed my life more than words can describe. It is so important to remember to thank God everyday for the blessings that He has given you, for there are many. Thank you so much for your love and support.
Con amor,
Hermana Brittner
PS. Kristen Hoopes- got your dearelder letter and I can’t believe that almost everyone at the candy counter is married!!! Well I can, but it’s weird to realize it. At least you are waiting until I get back to get married =) That is very nice of you. Lol. Thanks for the news and I will write back soon!
PSS. Kelli B! Thanks for the awesome letter. It made my day! I’ll write back soon!
Week 48- "Space in our Stomachs", Free Agency, and a Little Rain!
Jan. 16, 2012
Another day, another dollar. Sometimes I say that to myself and then I remember that I don’t get paid!! Except in blessings. It has been another exciting week here in Asunción, Paraguay although this week was filled with a little too much drama and not enough tranquility but it’s alright. Don’t worry though, I am still having a great time, so great, I am considering being a missionary with a nametag forever (if that were possible).
We had some special changes/transfers this week and I am in....Loma Pyta still, haha. But I am now in a trio with Hermana Tuaòne and Hermana Reyes. Hermana Reyes was born in Ecuador and lived there until she turned 12, at which point her family moved to Spain. I think we will be good friends and my Spanish will improve even more.
Sunday lunch appointments after church are always nice. We switch off with two member families and it’s always relaxing and comfortable to be around them. This week we ate with the Falcon family as usual, and left with full stomachs to go to our next appointment (we have to work the siesta, which is a real bummer, if you ask me). So we showed up at another member’s house and he said, “You are here to eat, right? Just a minute!” and he went inside. Something must have gotten lost in the translation when he spoke with my companion because she did not know that that is what he meant! I started laughing really hard at the situation as we realized we had to gear up for lunch number two. In the prayer to bless the food, my companion prayed for “space in our stomachs” to eat the second dinner. The family must not have thought much of it because they didn’t say anything. Anyhow, we successfully ate two Sunday lunches, as to not offend anyone and God truly answered our prayers.
This week my testimony of the Word of Wisdom has grown so much. The Word of Wisdom, meaning taking proper care of our bodies, not smoking, drinking alcohol, tea or coffee, eating healthy and getting enough sleep, as revealed to the prophet Joseph Smith and other latter-day prophets. It seems that the investigators that we find in a certain week all have something in common- a theme that Heavenly Father feels we can learn from. This week, it was definitely the destructive power of abusing our bodies by in-taking harmful substances. It seems that most of our new investigators or their spouse, are addicted to cigarettes and alcohol. Satan is just so clever because he knows that if we do these things, we will become addicted and lose our agency and cease to progress. We are teaching one investigator who cannot leave her husband alone in her house because he will sell their furniture for beer and cigarettes. She couldn’t go to church because her husband was home. As a public health/nursing major at BYU, I just want to abolish all of the terrible things that people do to their bodies. Then I remember this little thing called agency that we all fought for and that we are all able to make our own choices. I am such an advocate of healthy living and the Gospel. Seeing so many destroyed homes and shattered lives as a result of alcohol and drug abuse just increases my desire to help others and to be a soldier in this war against Satan. We truly are at war and it’s a spiritual battle that we fight everyday. There is such a real connection between our spirits and our bodies. Our spirits undeniably affect our bodies and vice versa.
We have three hermanas coming next change/transfer, which means it’s very likely that I could be training. We will see! I also think that I will be leaving Loma but I have successfully guessed wrong for every set of changes/transfers thus far, so we will see!
I want to express my thanks to Bishop Hadlock for all of your hard work and diligence. You have taught me so much as well as the whole ward! I am glad that you were able to conduct my farewell. Just think, if you had hung in there a little bit longer(7+ years) you would have been able to conduct my homecoming =) But the Lord has a purpose for everything and I know the new Bishopric (Bishop Paget!) will be great.
Another thing- it rained this week which was a nice relief from the heat and also, very needed. The Paraguayans kept saying we were beginning to have a drought. But this week we are expecting to be HOT once again.
Until next week,
Con Amor,
Hermana Brittner
