Monday, January 2, 2017

Feliz Ano!!

Christmas

Christmas in the CCM was amazing I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to share the holiday with my family of missionaries. I will always cherish the memories. We did a lot of singing and took pictures and we had a lot of fun exchanging secret Santa gifts. Some people got really creative! I made a gleeking spider man doll for elder Nase. It was pretty impressive I'd say--and I made a stuffed poop emoji out of a sock for Hermana Heartline. That one was good too. There were fireworks across the whole horizon at midnight on Christmas eve. It sounded like World War III. I don't know how anyone was sleeping through it. It was amazing.

Sick and leaving

leaving the CCM was hard--I had many friends there. but I knew it was time to go. However, I threw up that morning and I got a blessing from the presidente and a couple elders form my district later so that I'd be able to get through travelling. It was hard to stand  going through the airport. One Hermana said I looked nearly green. It was not fun. But we had a sweet goodbye from all the avencados as we got on the bus to leave. They sang in a little impromptu choir God be With you till we Meet again. Lots of tearful goodbyes and lots of handshakes that I wish were hugs. How blessed am I to have people to miss.

Bolivia
We arrived and spent the first couple of nights in a hotel! We had a lot of meetings at the president's house the first day! President Rodriguez and his wife are very kind! They gave us Bolivian food for lunch and Pap Johns for dinner! It was great! Although I was still feeling sickish.
Then on Wednesday, we met our new companions and went of to work! My trainer is Hermana Cluff. She is from Utah and she is very patient with me she also loves Star Wars! It's been very hard work and I miss home more than ever, but the Lord is watching over me and Christ walks beside me. I'm grateful to be serving.

The people are great but they are in and out of their houses a lot so its hard to actually have a lesson although we have quite a few contacts. Right now were trying to get the Family Limachi to get married to they can be baptized--and another Girl who has agreed to be baptized and has a date but need to come to church. Mostly I have been pretty quite which gets lonely because I don't understand a lot but as far as I can tell that's pretty normal for the beginning. I talked more last night though at a lesson with another girl named Ana Belen.  She's a very philosophical thinker and has a lot of questions. She reminds me a lot of Kris. 
I think I did well answering some of her questions which I'm proud of! 

Our shower is in the same space as our toilet so that's interesting. Our apartment is pretty nice and pretty large for only two people I hear. I've been decorating to make it more like home. 

I'm very grateful for the sheet that my family and friends all wrote on. It has given me a lot of comfort after long hard days. 

Everything is very different here, and dogs follow you around and bark at you a lot. I'm working on adjusting. I'm proud to be a servant of the Lord.

I've been reading the Book of Mormon and this week I read 3 and 4 Nephi. I loved it. On my first day the scripture 3 Nephi 15:9 gave me a lot of comfort and hope. I'm just starting Mormon right now. I love the scriptures with all my heart and I know they are true. I've learned while reading the scriptures through in order that God has a perfect knowledge of things, and I've noticed if you read how something happens at one point in the scriptures that may be confusing or that raises questions then those questions are usually answered later on and the reason for why things happened makes sense! You just have to keep reading! He does answer our questions and concerns. The scriptures have been such a great resource for those answers and words of comfort I need so desperately. I testify if you read them they will give those same blessing to you as they have done for me. 

I love you all! I miss you all so much! Good luck in the new year! 

Feliz Ano!!


-Hermana Brown

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