Welcome to the wide beautiful world of Cheyenne WY! The sky is blue and the temperatures are getting warmer. I am so grateful! Your favorite Sister Bryans, though she has grown up in the snow all her life, is not queen of the winter wonderland - or should I say - frozen wasteland.
How are ya'll doin'? I have survived another transfer. And I am staying in the beautiful land of WY for another 6 weeks. There is to much in the Buffalo Ridge ward for Sister Z and I to accomplish in two transfers, so the Lord left us here to keep going. Alas though, our Elders have been swept again. First transfer, it was our privilege to serve with Elders Rapp and Miller. Second transfer, we sweep out Elders Rapp and Miller and sweep in Elders Day and Hattabaugh. Third transfer, we sweep out Elders Day and Hattabaugh and sweep in Elders Stone and Broderick(sp). The Buffalo Ridge ward has no luck with Elders.
Recap of the last month since my letters have been none but short and vague. We are still working hard and moving forward. If the only people we convert in this area are ourselves then we will have been successful. Life is great! We have had so much contact with less active members and most all of it has been positive. There have been very few who want nothing to do with the church. Many are super welcoming (at least to us Sisters) and want us to stop by frequently. It is great!
This week specifically we visited with two less active sisters and they are the sweetest sisters ever. One is Sister Gallegos. She has an awesome family. Her youngest daughter is 16 and her oldest is 19 or 20. She also has some sons that live with their dad elsewhere in the States. They are so family oriented though. For the past 7 years they have been attending a non-denominational church so that the family can be united through the Savior instead of torn because of religion. It's great! I totally admire her strength and courage.
The other sister we visited is Sister Hoburg. She works for the Walmart bakery, so that is why she is unable to attend church. But like I said, totally friendly and super awesome! She invited us over to have lunch with her on Thursday. I am super excited! And she has the longest hair I have ever seen. I can't wait to get to know her better on Thursday.
Last Monday, we had a really great pday. Because of the beautiful weather we have been blessed with, we went to a park and played on the playground. We played freeze tag and hot lava. It was the best. Then we got bored and most of them either went to play tennis or ultimate frisbee. Well, whatever sinks your submarine.
I just watched and played hide and seek/imagination games with a little girl that happened to be on the playground with us. It was cute. before she left, she came and gave me a hug.
And then we went over to Sister Tinsley's house. She is the Young Women's president in the ward, and she is amazingly strong! She's is pregnant with her third time with an unknown and impending due date. She's the cutest lady ever. Super stylish and very creative. She taught us how to make maxi skirts. And we did! (Of course we made our sister missionary appropriate because we aren't allowed to wear maxi's.) They are really simple, super comfy and uber adorable. Here is her blogsite where she teaches how to make them: www.sweetsavanah.blogspot.com(Ona, you would really like them - young women's project/activity I think yes!)
Tuesday, was great too. We taught Debbie M. about the godhead. She has a really hard time believing the the godhead is made up of three separate and distinct individuals. She says that she wants proof from the Book of Mormon, but there really isn't any. So we're not really sure how to help her gain a testimony of that concept. It makes it really hard since she doesn't really believe in modern day revelation either. Hmm... many prayers and ponders go out to that woman. We love her dearly though. She has been investigating for 3 years and still hasn't found her answer yet. (Faith my dear woman, Faith!)
Anyways, Tuesday overall was a really good day. We found out that our investigator Paula did the reading we asked her to from the Book of Mormon and also that she is making the appropriate steps to overcoming her addiction. It is awesome! I love that lady.
Wednesday, I participated in my very first Zone Conference. Woohoo! It was really fun, and I learned a lot. I met the famous Elder Marble. That was cool. He is idolized by the members in the Buffalo Ridge ward. It's really sweet. He is the Zone Leader up in Laramie...or he was...he might have moved due to transfers.
Zone Conference was really good. We learned tons. We talked about using our time - the Lord's time - wisely, and also how to set goals. Then we listened to a sound recording of a talk given by Elder Holland to the Mission Presidents. He talked about focusing all of our energies on helping people become converted to the knowledge that God is a Loving Heavenly Father. Really making that the main focus of all we teach and testify. It was really neat. Elder Franz, one of the AP's, reminded us of the truth that, "Your mission doesn't change you; it is the experiences you have that change you." It has been really neat to ponder on that thought. In what ways has the last 3.5 months changed me? In what ways are the next 14.5 going to continue to change me? It's awesome because I really can see a difference in myself.
We were also asked to ponder this question in regards to ourselves, our members, our less actives, our converts and our investigators: How is (insert name here) developing a relationship with their Father in Heaven, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost? Dear reader, ask yourself this question and then set a goal to develop a stronger relationship with the members of the Godhead.
We also talked about our cars. I totally don't know how to take care of a car. So that is something I am going to strive to learn how to do this transfer. Each Zone Conference, all of the cars get graded on maintenance, care and cleanliness and then awarded as such. It's exciting!
https://www.lds.org/youth/video/your-day-for-a-mission?lang=engWe also watched this video. I love this story so much. I get super excited whenever rugby is talked about. And it helps that this video talks about: rugby, missionary work, sacrifice and miracles. It's great! Ya'll should watch it. (Yes that means right now. Don't wait until you finish reading this email/post. If you have read this far, you probably didn't watch the video first, so go back and watch it!)
And some wise words at the close of the conference were these: "If it doesn't get planted right, it won't grow right." And, "What we put into something determines what we get out of it."
(Is this email becoming overwhelmingly long? GOOD! that means you are learning something.)
Thursday was equally great. We got to go tracting in the morning, eat pizza for dinner, meet with the Ward Mission Leader and the Elders and visited with our potential investigator Rachel B. I love her sooooooooo much! She is the best! This is one of the reasons she is the best; she said that she wants to learn more about our church not because she wants to convert, but she is impressed with our persistence in contacting her and she loves our sunny dispositions. *mind blown* The church is true! The Savior lives. The light of Christ is in us all and if we let it, it will shine through and penetrate the souls of those who have been prepared.
Friday was a long day filled with planning and visits and dinner, and I don't really remember that day.
Saturday was awesome! We had a ward activity for our dinner which was great. It was a lasagna and apple pie bake off contest. Members were asked to submit pie and lasagna entries to be judged by the Elders and Sisters and the past years winners. It was crazy! There are such wonderful cooks in this ward. I really like the caramel apple pie that I tasted, but the winner was a warm, apple pie with an oat crumb top. It was very delicious. And it belonged to Sister Wardle. The lasagna that won was a white sauce lasagna, and it was made by Brother Loader. Yum Yum!
Saturday, we also dropped our investigator Kevin. He hasn't been keeping commitments and isn't progressing. So we left him with an addiction recovery program booklet and said that when he is ready to quit he can call us. We've asked and commit him to quit/cut back the last two times we've visited and he hasn't made any efforts to change. We decided that by dropping him maybe he would learn and miss the Spirit he felt during our lessons. We'll see though.
Yesterday - Sunday - was ward conference. That was awesome! The topics for the Sacrament meeting talks were: faith, Jesus Christ and, everyone's favorite, Missionary Work. It was awesome! Sunday school was equally if not more awesome. I love the Book of Mormon and that was our topic again this week. Brother Robertson shared another story from his mission in Brazil. He said that when he was a Zone Leader, there was a missionary he was over that was getting into Anti-Mormon literature. He said that he was broadening his mind and doing it for knowledge purposes. Anyways, he was becoming a terrible elder, so Brother Robertson, then Elder Robertson, went to his mission president and asked him what to do to help this elder. The council was this: for every minute he spends reading the Anti-Mormon material, he should spend that much time reading the Book of Mormon. The elder did as he was counseled and eventually changed his ways and found that the Anti-Mormon material was garbage and a waste of his time.
The really cool thing about the above story is that it works with any trial of the natural man that we have in our lives.
I love the Book of Mormon. Yesterday, I finished reading it for the third time. The Book of Mormon truly is the word of God! The spirit that it brings cannot be denied. It is true, and it will change your life.
I hope you all have made it to the end of this lengthy read alive. I love you all and I am so grateful for the love and support you give to me, my family and the other missionaries in the world. Keep up the great work. Seek out missionary opportunities, and I know that your lives will be blessed!
Love Always,
Sister Bryans
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