How are you all fairing today? I am doing quite well. Though, I wish it was warmer outside. I am quite chilly! And having just looked, I have a right to say that. It is a sunny but chilly 55 degrees right now. *brrrrrrr* Not a fan!
Anyways, enough about the weather. Guess what?!? If you couldn't tell from the title of this email, our Tricycle is back together. HUZZAH! For a week, we were apart, but now, we're back, and we're ready to rock. Sister Jacobson returned to us on Friday morning. Woohoo!
Other great, grand and glorious highlights of the week include:
MONDAY - The Sister Trainer Leaders came all the way up from Berthoud, CO to spend P-day with us. It was great fun. We went out to Lunch at a delicious Thai restaurant. It was great! We also played Spot it and talked and had a grand ol' time.
Monday evening was equally great. We taught the Acevedo family. They are the BEST!!!! I love them so much. They are a Hispanic family that we work with because they don't want to be in the Spanish Branch. (YES!) So we are able to have a Spanglish lesson with them. It was great because we read 3 Nephi 17, and Brother Acevedo read most of it in Spanish. But then it was also heartbreaking because they shared with us that their faith is weak, and they are really struggling spiritually. I just love them SO MUCH!
TUESDAY - We set our 3 month rolling goals. (For three months out, we set goals for how many baptisms we want to see in our area/month.) The total for this 3 month rolling goal session was 20. Let me repeat myself because I think I said that in a whispered tone. OUR GOAL FOR THE NEXT THREE MONTHS IS TO SEE 20 PEOPLE BAPTIZED!!!! Woohoo! #increasefaith We are so excited! It's time to think outside the box to allow the Spirit to touch the hearts of all Heavenly Father's children.
We also met Brother Halgren's neighbor Alan. He is a Geologist, and so he travels around collecting rock and talking about it and giving some of it away. So I was able to snag a piece of Amazonite. It's a really beautiful aqua color. When I send my box home, that rock will be inside for you, Ben. (PS. if you search Amazonite you can pull up all kinds of information and pictures of it off Google.)
*Turn Page - Next Journal*
WEDNESDAY - we did some service at Brett H's house. We were pulling weeds in his front yard. We didn't hardly make a dent, but you can see a small improvement. Anyways, we made a really interesting analogy between pulling weeds and Repentance. Here it is:
Repentance is like pulling weeds. When we repent everyday, we can be cleansed from sin and the burdens of guilt and sadness can be lifted so much easier and quicker. The same is true from pulling weeds. When we pull weeds everyday, the roots don't grow so deep, and our garden stays fresh and beautiful. BUT! If we let repentance become a forgotten principle, sin continues to build up. The feelings of sadness and guilt continue to fester, and our lives become miserable. It becomes that much harder to repent and be forgiven. The same is true with weeding. The longer we let the weeds grow the bigger they become and the harder they are to remove. It takes extra effort, time and fuss to remove them so flowers can grow. Let us remember to repent everyday. and allow the Atonement of Jesus Christ to change our lives, so we can reach our full potential.
We also ate dinner with Sister Llamas. I LOVE HER!!!! She is another Hispanic sister in our ward that chooses to stay in Timberline rather than go to the Spanish Branch. I can't remember what she called the food that we ate, but I remember that it was super yummy. a fried corn tortilla, with a layer of guacamole, homemade re-fried beans, and a little bit of beef. Then you serve it with Spanish rice. YUM-YUM-YUM-YUM-YUM!!! We talked with her about Tithing, and it was exactly what she needed. The Spirit really does work through us to discern the needs of those we teach, serve and love!
To make our Wednesday great, we witnessed a miracle AND we were able to teach Captain again.
MIRACLE - So we arrived at the Halgren's for our lesson with Captain and learned that Captain wouldn't be there til 7:30p, so we left to go contacting. We tried Alan's house, but he didn't answer. And as we were walking away from his house, we saw a baby bunny. AND WE CAUGHT THE BABY BUNNY!
The baby bunny was super cute and super noisy - it squeaked at us and it's squeaks were really loud. Did I mention that we caught a baby bunny!!!??? And then we realized that the bunny probably had a million and one different diseases on it including the plague and probably Ebola too. So we left to wash our hands. But we didn't go back and wash them at the Halgren's, Kearl's or Wards. We went to Brother Keefe's house to wash our hands. (Back story - we had invited Brother Keefe (non-member) to come to hear Elder Cook speak. We saved a seat for him and his family, but he never came, and we were super bummed!) So after we had washed our hands at Brother Keefe's house, he came out and told us that he went to hear Elder Cook speak - BY HIMSELF!!!!! His family stayed home. WHAT?!?!?! We were like, "Wow! That's awesome! What did you think?" But on the inside we were like, "WOOOOOOOOOOO! YEEEEEAAAAAAAH! HE CAME TO CHURCH; HE CAME TO CHURCH! *complete with a little dance*" It was fantastic! All because the Lord placed a little baby bunny in our path.
Another interesting analogy that was created and taught to Captain. I compared covenant keeping to this:
It's like if I promise to walk your dog; then, you would promise that I will have a leash and grocery bags to clean up after the dog.
And then I thought about it some more as the lesson continued. Covenants really are that way. Think of the baptism covenant found in Mosiah. God asks us to keep the commandment, take upon ourselves the name of Christ and serve one another. In return, he promises that we will have his Spirit (the Holy Ghost) to be with us. He gives us the tools we need, so we can keep our end of the covenant. BOOM! When the Spirit is present both the teacher and the listener will learn something new.
THURSDAY - Thursday was cold and wet! But we survived. We made it to District Meeting in one piece. We also received a call from President Brown asking us if we thought having Sister Jacobson come back was a good idea. (UH YES!) And we had an interesting lesson with Brett. And received a referral from the Zone Leaders from a 16 year old named Zach. HUZZAH!
FRIDAY - Sister Jacobson came back, and we went to Bingo with the Taft Canyon Sisters. We also had our weekly planning session. And we contacted a referral from Mr. Siman that Brother McClure gave us. We had a really good lesson/discussion on his doorstep.
SATURDAY - We organized our room so the three of us could fit. Our end all decision was to drag the futon mattress into the main room. So I sleep on the floor every night, and I love it. I feel like a little Asian every night. And it's super comfy. And! It also feels like a sleepover every night too. It's great! Also, all day Saturday, we biked around singing, "Do you want to build a snowman?" except we changed the lyrics to, "Do you want a Book of Mormon?" #musicisthebest
We taught others and followed up on commitments, and contacted referrals and potentials. A great day!
SUNDAY - I have officially taught the law of Chastity. WOOHOO! And I totally cheated. (Thank you Mormon Messages.) We share the video: http://www.mormonchannel.org/youth-videos?v=1101415421001 and then discussed it. It worked really well. And even better! Rachel (who we taught the law of Chastity to) has agreed again to be baptized, and is currently praying about a date. *happy dance*
THIS WEEK WAS PHENOMENAL!
Love you all,
Sister Bryans
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