Week 28 pics

Week 28

Hola mi loca Familia y amigas!!!! I cannot even describe how happy I am that Sam got to do his Homecoming talk and that Jacy got to have her Farewell! It is amazing the opportunities that we get to have as missionaries. I know that a mission changes lives. It is changing mine each and every day! And I know that it has changed Sam completely and I am excited for jacy to have those same experiences. Something that Sister Christensen shared with us this week really touched me. We were at her house seeing if she needed help before she left to Utah and everyone started telling stories about Jesse. And she told an amazing story about Brother Christensen on his mission. She said that He served in South Africa and they were about to have exchanges, and so his companion left but there was a complication and a new one never came. And back then they didn't have cell phones to call and tell them that his companion didn't show up. So he went back to the apartment alone after waiting for a while, and she said that his apartment was really scary, especially to be alone in. And he said he could literally feel Satan's spirits trying to get to him. And he felt extremely alone without his companion and afraid. And at that moment he prayed for comfort and for help, and she said that immediately he felt the saviors arms around him, and the savior never left him for 3 days while he was waiting for his companion. She said if you were to ask Brother Christensen when he got a testimony of the savior, he would tell you that story. And that just kind of hit me, as I realized that on my mission is when I have realized the undenying love of the Savior! I am blessed to have the opportunity to see everyday the Saviors love helping people and touching peoples hearts and changing them. I would never give up the experiences I have had on my mission for anything, because this time is when i have KNOWN the savior is with me and when I have RELIED on him. And that is a huge reason why a mission is so life- changing. This week was a really good week with more life changing experiences. Some fun stuff that we got to do this week is that we got to feed baby goats for service! And we got to start teaching people English for service too, which is super difficult but super fun! And We had ZONE CONFERENCE! I learned soo much at Zone Conference, This time it was really fun because we did and OYM activity! (OYM means open your mouth). And they set up all these chairs with different people in front of them and they had random scenarios! Like a guy in a chick fil a line, and a women putting groceries away, and a Buddhist that is gardening. And we had 2 minutes to share the gospel and the restoration! It was so fun, One elder used the line on the chick fil a guy... "chick fil a is good and the gospel is good sooo..." hahahahah. But it really made me realize that there are people all around us that need the gospel and all that we have to do is open our mouths! So yesterday that is exactly what we decided to do and we had a pretty interesting miracle! hahaha. So we were tracting on these rich people houses and no one was really opening up, and then my companion sees this guy loading his trunk with his stuff to leave and then he locked his keys in the trunk. And she was like we should help him ahahah. And I just kind of looked at her like she was crazy and I said... Alright do you have faith? And she said yes, So we said a prayer for a miracle that we could help him, (even though we are 2 19 and 20 year old girls and we have no idea what we are doing.) And so then we had this bright idea to call our Ward Mission Leader and ask him how to break into a car ahahah! That took some explaining, but then he knew exactly what to do! So we go up to this guy and we introduce ourselves and at this point he was just cussing and crying because he needed to get to a really important job interview. And we said Hey do you have a coat hanger hahah! So he goes and grabs a coat hanger and for 30 minutes we shove it through the door jam and try and hit the unlock button. And finally it worked! He was overjoyed and just couldn't believe two missionaries helped him break into his car hahah! And we told him about our prayer and that it was all the lord and he helped this miracle happen and we gave him a pass a long card with our number! Hahahahah. I dont think he will ever forget that! I know that the lord puts people in our path for a reason! I want to finish my letter with some good news I got from Hermana Cardosa my trainer. She sent me a letter and told me that Sergio that me and her found and taught in Eagle is getting baptized! And guess what day he is getting baptized? March 4th!!! 2 years after Sam went out! hahahaha, i thought that was a funny coincidence! I am soo overjoyed and excited for him, and it just shows that when we work hard in our missions we will see success! We don't always get to be there for the fruits of our labors but that is okay! Because the lord knows everything and he knows the work we put in! This week we were sharing a scripture at a members house and we shared job 23:10 and it talks about that when we are tried we come forth as gold!!! And we talked about the refiners fire and how our trials make us stronger. And she said that reminds her of this tradition they do in some foreign countries, she said when a vase breaks instead of throwing it away, they repair it and put gold through the cracks, and it makes it more valuable! I know that is what my mission is doing for me! It is making me more valuable, and everyday as I go out and serve, I can see the change in myself and the light of Christ in those around me! I LOVE THE MISSION! EVERYONE NEEDS TO SERVE ONE! LOS QUIERO FAMILIA! estoy agradecida por cada dia, cada prueba, y cada oppurtunidad para llegar a ser mejor! Tengan una buena semana! Remember how much I love you and the lord loves you!💜💙💚❤💞

Pictures: Sorry there arent a lot! but here is Zone Conference!

Hermana Bryson's Letter about Jesse Christensen

   Well this week, we had a terrible tragedy in the Steamboat Springs ward. Jesse Christensen one of the members we live with passed away on Valentines Day. He was snowmobiling with his friend and an avalanche came and he didn't make it. It was a sad sad time for the ward this week. But it amazed me how much the LDS community supports the ones they love. My goodness the Christensen family received so much food and love and service. It goes to show that everyone cares. And you always have family in every ward. Honestly it was rough this week, usually I sugarcoat my emails with all the highlights but this week, theres no beating around the bush here. IT was really really tough. But the thing that got me through this week was seeing how much my testimony of the Plan of Salvation was strengthened and fortified this week. I know without a shadow of a doubt that our Heavenly Father has a plan in everything for us. He lifts us when were down, he comforts us when were sad or lonely, and he knows whats best for us and the right times for everything. He knows that everything will always always work out eventually. In this plan he promises us peace and joy, and love. More than you could ever imagine. With this knowledge, we know that one day we will see our loved ones again, and that they are in a better place. One where they are experiencing a state of peace and love. How beautiful is that plan ?? 

        A return missionary told us this week that she didn't understand why she was devastated as she was driving to Colorado. She asked herself, "Do I not have a testimony of the Plan of Salvation??" And she said the most profound statement. She said that she realized that the Plan of Salvation gives us hope, but it doesn't take away the pain. Even the Savior, someone perfect had to ask for the pain to be removed. I know that Hermana Tams and I were called to this area at this time to be a strength and a light to this ward, and especially to this family. We have been serving them by cleaning their house every day, and making sure we stay on top of anything they need. Its been a great opportunity to see such strong members of the ward. The Christensen's are true example of the Savior. Ive never met such funny and loyal and loving people. They bring everyone in an make everyone feel welcome. And Brother Christensen had the kind of humor that made everyone die laughing. He had the type of spirit that made you feel at home the second you walked through the door. And wow, the way he looked at his wife and talked about her made everyone feel their love story. Sister Christensen is so strong. She is handling this like a pro, and facing it with so much grace. She has the grace and elegancy of Emma Smith. What a true power house. 

     The night before he passed away, we over at their house teaching them about how trials will strengthen us, and make us stronger. And that when we do whats right, and ask for guidance the Lord will make our trials light so that we cant even feel them upon our backs. Who knew the next day would be a trial of a lifetime? That night, Brother Christensen wasn't feeling so good so he went upstairs and standing in his long johns, he leans over the banister and says, "Goodnight ladiessss." That was the last memory we shared with his son Colter. That was our Brother Christensen, always the life of the party. We will never forget him. His cowboy legacy lives on, and he has touched many many lives. I think there was like 400 people at his funeral. He touched someone where ever he went. The coolest part of this is that we were able to focus on everyone this week, not ourselves.  And we received so many blessings for being strong in a crazy time like this. Its so amazing knowing that Brother Christensen continues to do missionary work even on the other side. He has had so many newspaper articles and stories, and talks at his funeral that blessed and touched so many non members. That is a true blessing, and a true miracle. I love Steamboat, and the opportunity to share with others this beautiful message. I feel sad for those that don't have this knowledge.

Funny story, he had a tribute concert (Since he was musically talented) And we got permission to go for a little bit. But it was at a bar (sort of) and everyone was laughing that there was two sister missionaries at a bar. But what better way to share the gospel than to those that need help with the word of wisdom right?? Will forever be a great story to tell. Thank you all, I love you and I hope you have a great week!!!

Con Amor,

Hermana Bryson ​

Week 27 pics

Week 27

Hello everyone! I am very happy for everyone this week! I am grateful that everyone got to see Sam return with honor! Well this week as everyone probably already knows was a little heart breaking. On valentines day we got a text from Sister Christensen to go over to the house to be with Brady because there was an emergency. So we raced over and later that night we got the news that Brother Christensen had passed away in an avalanche. I cannot explain to you how much I learned this week! It was a devastating week and a great loss. Brother Christensen literally embodies every second the pure love of Christ. I will never forget the day I met him! He had a way of making everyone feel special and like a part of the family! I can never explain how grateful I am for this family! They took me in and made Steamboat a home away from home. Especially at the start where I was struggling in a new, and a little bit of a harder area, I can not explain how much it meant to me to go to their house and always get a brother Christensen joke! This family is AMAZING! I have never seen such amazing examples of Christ. Honestly every step along the way this week they always turned out! I am sooo glad that I could be a small part of this families life and learn from them! I know that I am here for a reason and that they needed to teach me, a lot! This week was kind of all centered around the Christensen's! The whole community just came together and took them in! It was amazing to see the love of this ward! We did a lot of service this week, which made us feel better, to be able to help in some way! Bottom line is that this week I learned that the Plan of Salvation is absolutely marvelous! I know with all of my heart that we can see our loved ones again, I know that it is an absolute promise that we can be sealed to our families for eternity. And that is the ONLY thing that absolutely helps during this hard time! I know that god is here in Steamboat! I know that he is sending his angels to the Christensen's, and I know that one of those angels is Brother Christensen! I will forever be grateful for everything I learned this week and how much stronger it made my testimony! I know that at this time all that Brother Christensen would ask of us missionaries is to go out and work and to take care of his wife. So that is what we are going to do. I am grateful for the plan of happiness, I am grateful for the savior and the strength and love he gives this family. And I am thankful for this area and these people! I just want to live my life and finish my mission with everything that I have. I want to be like Brother Christensen and love everyone and help everyone! You should have seen the crowd of people for his funeral! (think 400). And like 10 missionaries! I want to be the kind of person that can forget myself and have the pure love of Christ. I am thankful for this mission, even hard weeks like this one! I love you all and I am soo thankful for all of your support and love! Thank you for all of your prayers!! have an amazing week, and remember to live every day to the fullest!❤💚💙💞💜

Pictures 

1. Angel wings graffiti

2. Roses for sister christensen from the ward!

3. More graffiti hahahah!

Week 26 pics

Week 26

I am sooo excited for everything going on this week! I want to start out my email by thanking Sam for everything he has done!!! A MISSION IS NOT EASY! hahahaha. But Sam has been such an amazing example for me and for our family. If he never would have prayed and fasted for me to decide to go on a mission, I dont think I would have ever made that amazing decision. I cannot imagine not ever experiencing all of the miracles, and hard times, and feeling the pure love of Christ everywhere around me! Everyone has to give a huge hug for me when they see him! i am amazed at how much a mission and the experiences here, change people! YOu all are going to have an amazing week, with kimballs wedding, and sam coming home, and Jacys farewell and sams homecoming!!! Take a lot of pictures for me! I am doing soo good out here! I just consider myself soo blessed to be here, and poor Sam has to go home and experience real life with all the TEMPTATIONS hahaha just kidding! He will be fine as long as he doesnt have a baby without me, or else he will be in a world of hurt.😂

    This week has been marvelous! I want to start out my email by telling a story that Sister Linford in our ward told us a while back. She was talking about her experience when she went and visited Africa over the summer. And she shared about this young teenager in the ward who was just amazing. Everyone in Africa basically has nothing and this young teenager was soo happy all the time. She said one Saturday while they were there all of the young boys were playing soccer. And sister linford saw this happy smilin young teenager over in the river doing laundry. And she went over and asked him why he wasn't playing with the other kids and he said, "I'm cleaning my white shirt for church tomorrow, This boy is going to look good for the lord!" And then he continued to clean. And she said the next day he just pointed to his white shirt and said looks good huh? Then during sacrament they asked all of the youth to go up and share their testimony about who they want to be when they row up. And that smiling young man went up and said "when I grow up i am going to be a missionary for the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints." And then in tears Sister Linford said not long after we got home from our trip, that young smiling teenager passed away from AIDS. And he never was able to go on his mission. 

    And that just made me stop and think!!! Their are people all over the world that are just waiting to be able to serve a mission. And many of them are not able too! And if I do not make the most of my mission every single day, i am wasting that amazing blessing and miracle of being able to be here. I know that there have been millions of times in my life where I have been soo blessed and I have taken that for granted. To even be able to have a temple close, when there are those in Africa who don't have a temple close and they don't have the money to make the trip to go! As members and missionaries of this church we are SOOO BLESSED!!! And I don't ever want to forget that! This week I have really tried to work as hard as ever and do my best, to make Heavenly Father proud! Looking back on my mission I have seen more miracles in these 6 months than my whole entire life! This week I have been so much happier because I am remembering why i am here! 

   I want to be a missionary not only for this year and a half but for my whole life. I know that it is going to be harder to have an eternal companion, and to have 6 babies i am going to have to train hahaha! But because of this mission, I am ready to dedicate my life to him, and to center my heart on him! My dad was writing me and said that is the hardest thing to do, is to remember to have gods love at the center of your heart! I am thankful for this work everyday, and for all of the things I have learned! I would never change a thing! Just some highlights from this week, hahaha. We also did service at a funeral home and we helped cremate a body...... i never imagined myself doing that! I love this area and ward! We are seeing a lot of success, and I know that god is watching out for me and that he loves me!!! LOS QUIERO! Remember to center your heart on what is important! WE ARE ALL SOOO BLESSED! Have an amazing week!💜💞💙💚❤ Happy v day!!!!!!!!

 CON AMOR, Hermana Tams!

Week 25 pics

Week 25

Hola Hola!!!!  hope everyone had an amazing week, and that everyone enjoyed the super bowl! I had an amazing week here! I LOVE BEING WITH HERMANA BRYSON AGAIN! I didnt realize until this week that last transfer i kind of forgot how to have joy in the journey! I know that a mission is supposed to be joyful, because we have such an amazing message filled with joy and happiness. And this week Hermana Bryson reminded me of that! This week missionary work was so much more fun because I had a lot better attitude! And we saw a lot of miracles this week! Some of the funny things that happened is firstly, i kind of played a trick on my comp, that I need to repent for hahaha! So, Brother and Sister Christensen that we live with were out of town in Tijuana mexico. And their son Colter was home alone with Fred Sandelin watching him. Fred is the funniest craziest church member I have ever met! And so me and colter had an idea to pull a prank on hermana Bryson coming in, because sometimes I am a 2 year old. So colter said "Lets just pretend like I graduated college at 15 and that I own this house and live here alone." Hahahha, and so for 4 days until the christensens got home, we pretended like he was a 15 year old millionare! And it was so funny! Hermana Bryson was so confused, and her reaction was priceless! Man, do I know how to give a good welcome to my new companions!

     We also were knocking some doors, and my companion saw the sign no peddlers! And she was like is that us the missionaries, some of us ride bikes hahaahah! Also this week was fun because we worked hard to find some new investigator, and we got 3! I am super excited to work with them! We also were tracting and we ran into a lot of people that smoke marijuana, and one of them said," i know J.C. is smoking a joint somewhere!" And we were like what? hahahahaha, I don't understand people but it is okay! 

     NOW FOR THE MIRACLES! This week a lot of our miracles happened in oak Creek! We were looking for Less actives and new investigators and we found some amazing people who we know the lord led us too! We first met Nathan. He is a less active from Utah with a wife and 2 adorable kids! He said when we met him that he had just been thinking about finding a religion again to give his kids a good foundation. Because he knows that when he was younger the church gave him a good foundation! The amazing thing is that we felt the spirit so strong, and this guy was soo happy and so ready to change! Then after wards we were knocking on this door to find a less active, and this girl named Michelle opened up! SHE IS THE ELECT! She was telling us about how she wanted to find her own religion because growing up she never had that foundation. The amazing coincidence is that she was just thinking about that, and also she said she has a friend who is really turning to faith right now and trying to find herself! And she wants us to meet her too! Also She was telling us about her friend who is in hospice and really isn't doing well, and we told her about the priesthood and about blessings. She said it was so crazy that we came when we did because her friend was just asking for a blessing, and she didn't know who to ask or where to go! She is amazing, and we are excited to teach her again this next week. My favorite miracle is that this man RICARDO sat down for a lesson. Riccardo is Summers wife who is a member of our church and he has never shown interest in the church and he was always just stubborn about the church.. Well summer invited us over to dinner, and I know that the spirit just touched his heart, because  finally after 7 weeks of trying, he sat down for a lesson about the plan of Salvation. That was a huge miracle for me, to see him show interest and summer said that he almost came to church yesterday too but something came up last minute! I am soo glad that he is showing interest! I know that it means the world for summer, and I just know that one day she can have the happiness of being sealed in the temple with him! I LOVE THE MISSION! I know that crazily enough I am almost 1/3 of the way through, and i know that i need to make the most of this precious time that I have! I love going out every day and spreading glad tidings of Joy!!!!! I could not imagine a better experience! I am thankful for the people here in Steamboat, and for this amazing, crazy area! LOS QUIERO! Have a good week, I am so thankful for all you guys do! remember, if we make Christ the center of our lives we WILL have happiness. "Learn of him, Listen to his words, and WALK in the meekness of his spirit! Love you all!