I'm Here!

We just got to Reu and holy moly it's as hot as can be and my arms are like burned already. I can't even believe I'm here already! We left the ccm at 4:30 in the morning and then just got here 5 hours later!

We are doing interviews and lunch at the church with President and Sister Goodman. They are the sweetest, I love them so much! They are so so nice! I don't know for sure who my companion is or anything, I'm assuming she will be a Latina.

Okay, love you all so much! Here we gooooo!! Pray for me, its so hot here! I love being a missionary!!!!

Love,

Hermana Bracha

Guatemala City Temple

VOLLEYBALL AND CHURROS!

When we play sports basically all we ever play is volleyball and it is literally like a prison yard as Hermana Ralph and I call it. We are like the only nortes who play so its funny because they always want us on their team. But anyways, all the missionaries gather around and watch while people are playing and it gets so fun and crazy. There is this one latino elder who is amazing, and so I always set him and vice versa and we kill everyone. It's awesome!

On Wednesday they made real, real traditional guatemalan food and it was the best thing I have probably ever had in my entire life. I kid you not, we probably each ate 40 churros. They weren't like the Costco ones mom, they were amazing. So yummy! There were enchiladas and tacos and so much food. I have never eaten so much! 

Nothing too exciting happened this week other than I LEAVE FOR THE FIELD A WEEK FROM YESTERDAY! That is so crazy to me, so I'm not quite sure if I will get to write next week or not, so if you don't hear from me don't freak out because I'll probably write when I get to the mission home? 

It's so fun here, and our new investigator has already commited to baptism so that's awesome! We teach him tonight so who knows what's going to happen. He has a ton of questions and answering in Spanish is always the hardest part after we've already had to decifer what he was saying! haha.

Yikes this email is lame. Temple today and language study everyday! I love Hermana Ralph and leaving her is going to be so sad! We always pray at dinner that we will get to be companions in the future, so here's hoping! I hope everyone is doing well! I love the mission, and I love being a missionary! 

CONGRATS ZACK AND KATE ON THE BABY BOY!!! so happy for you two!!! keeping the nephew tradition a little while longer, I love it!

I HATE KETCHUP! so so much, obviously. Latinos put it on everything! PIZZA, SOUP, DOESN'T MATTER. I legit want to gag at least once a day because of the smell and watching what they put it on. it's really yucky hah

I found this scripture this week in my personal study and it was so profound to me in the moment, it says: 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... 3 Nephi 5:13. I was just thinking THAT'S ME. That's literally what my purpose of my life right now is. In one week I will be in Reu, preaching the word of God among the people as a disciple of Christ. I am a representative of Him and hope that everyday my actions are fulfilling my purpose. So with that said, I love being a missionary and can't wait until I am teaching and helping REAL people and helping to change peoples lives! 

Love and miss you all sooooo so much!

Con amor,

Hermana Bracha 

We are very fortunate to have Hermana Taylor's mom send along some happy pictures!

Arrival day.

First temple trip.

Apparently Hermana Bracha is still super strong!

Happy Hermanas!!

PARASITES?

Hahaha, no I don't have a parasite, we just had a health class about how we need to not do this, or eat this, or touch that, or else I will end up with a lovely pet. Soooo, that was terrifying! But luckily they gave us these really nice filtered water bottles, so water won't be as much of an issue.

But other than that, nothing new has happened. Still lots of Spanish, which is hard but I'm getting a lot better! And both of our investigators have committed to baptism so YAY!! Friday we went out into the street out in front of the temple and did REAL LESSONS! We would just walk up to people and start teaching! It was so fun, Hermana Ralph and I talked to one lady for like 15 minutes and we got her information so the missionaries in her area could teach her because she was so interested!!

Also, this morning we went to the temple and the session was in Spanish! So that was crazy, because I understood like a lot of it, so yay! Hopefully next week I will understand ALL! 

We had a devotional last night from Elder Bednar and he was talking about how amazing general conference is and how we need to continuously be reading and applying the words that are being taught to us. Which is so perfect because my last email was all about GC! Anyways, he was saying how he loves sitting there and listening to the talks of the other brethren because there always seems to be a general theme. And we often think, hmm oh cool of them to coordinate like that, but they don't! They don't know what anyone else is talking about until they are speaking in GC! HEAVEN COORDINATES! Heaven knows, God knows what we need to be hearing at this time and we need to be reading and following their counsel leading up until the next GC, and then after as well. We have literal modern day revelation from God. Now why wouldn't we be doing what they are saying??

So that's my thought for the day. Sorry this email is lame, but not too much has happened. I love being a missionary and the work I'm doing here. I CANT BELIEVE I'VE ALREADY BEEN OUT A MONTH! Time flieeeessssss, and in two weeks I'm going to be in REU!!! aaaaahhh! pray for me hahah. I can teach in Spanish all the lessons, but I cannot have a normal conversation to save my life.

So here goes nothing! Love you all!!!!! More next week!

Con Amor,

Hermana Bracha

THE MARKET AND GENERAL CONFERENCE!

So this week was amazing! We had General Conference over the weekend and all the talks were so great! I feel that they were each specifically for me. It's crazy how much Heavenly Father knows us. If you didn't watch conference, shame on you, just kidding!! But you should watch it! IT WAS SO AMAZING! My favorite talk was Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf on the Saturday morning session, because he was talking all about the plan of happiness that our Heavenly Father created for us. If you have ever wondered: where did I come from, what is my purpose on this earth, and where am I going? President Uchtdorf shared enlightenment and understanding to these questions. His words were so powerful and just testified to me so much. SO everyone watch!:)

All the nortes left today so that was SO SAD because I love all the elders so much, and the LATINAS! Hermana Turcios is from Honduras and she's this amazing spirit, that I just already miss so much! She's going to be such a great missionary. The people in Peru are so lucky to have her! Tomorrow 50 new nortes are coming so that's exciting. 

This means I have been in the CCM for 3 weeeeeks!!! what!?!? I should definitely be way better at Spanish than I am. However, I have another amazing experience with teaching. We have been learning all the lessons in Spanish which is so hard might I add. Anyways, Hermana Ralph, WHO IS MY FAVORITE PERSON EVER, I JUST CANNOT THANK HEAVENLY FATHER ENOUGH THAT HE GAVE ME HER AS A COMPANION, anyways, she was really nervous about not being able to contribute to the lesson, so we said this super sincere and heartfelt prayer before going into our lesson with Tómas. We were teaching and then he completely took the lesson off of where we were wanting to go and I started sweating because I had NO IDEA what he was saying so I turned to her like AHHH what do we do? She was so calm and just started speaking -- IN SPANISH answering his questions. I have no idea how she did it other than through the spirit. There is no way because some of the words she was saying we haven't even learned yet. I don't know how else to explain it, other than it was an amazing testimony builder for both of us. 

Today we went to the central plaza and market! WHICH WAS SO COOL! and I am elated to announce that I bought a muu muu. I am officially a part of the Bracha club! It's so cute though, its turquoise. I love it. AND DAD! we went to Wendy's for lunch! that's right, you heard me, WENDYS! We drove past and somebody says, Ah, Wendy's. and I was laughing so hard because of the way he said it, it just reminded of you. After that we went to the plaza and were passing out Book of Mormons. Ralph and I were so nervous because we don't know how to like say anything haha, but the first guy we went up to was sooo nice! and so excited to hear what we had to say about it. Yes he was laughing a little at our Spanish, but he thanked us so many times for the book. And then when we walked away he was reading the book for like the next 10 minutes. And when we left the plaza he WAS STILL READING! So, hopefully he contacts the missionaries in that area! That would be amazing! ... not really anything too exciting happened this week. just the usual study, etc.! but it's so fun and I love being here! I have the best district and teachers!

Again, I encourage everyone to listen to General Conference because it was just so amazing. 

I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and through reading it we can feel His love in our lives. I am so grateful to know that I am a child of God, and so are all of you! Missionary work is amazing, and I'll talk to you next week!!!

Much love,

Hermana Bracha