Hola and hello from the hottest place on earth… and everyone keeps saying "just wait for February.”  So I'm pretty excited to melt these next two months!!!

This week was pretty special because we got to hear from Elder Cook. He talked a lot about us needing to teach of repentance and baptism every day, and to also make sure that our investigators really truly understand the atonement and all its glory. I think what I truly loved most about this whole experience was the spirit that was present. It truly was a really special experience and I loved it!!!

Some Elders in our district had a baptism this week and I was pumped because it was my first baptism meeting as a missionary. But little did I know that I would,  (1) be playing the piano,  and (2) giving the first lesson while waiting after the baptism before the confirmation. I don't really think i need to explain how either of these things went… the piano part just reminded me why I hate the piano, and the lesson part reminded me that I don't know Spanish. But, Kevin attended the baptism and I don't think that there could have been anything else to give him a nice friendly push to getting baptized. After the whole thing I would just see in his eyes his actual want for this gospel in his life and I was just so pumped for him. I feel like me and Hermana Yato have been pulling his teeth for the past three weeks, but seeing it happen and hearing the testimony of the lady afterwards really helped. Unfortunately, this Saturday he is going out of town..... it isn't for sure yet but who knows... I know what your thinking… LAME!

We had changes this week with our sister leaders and I was pretty nervous for it, but i LOVED it. Mostly because I got to talk in English about how I feel to someone who understands English and I was also able to get feedback in English so really it was one of my favorite things. I was also really able to learn a lot by how she teaches and how I need to better myself. All in all, this week was alright. I love you all and thank you for reading this message:)

Love,

Hermana Brasher

This was a hard week with our investigators and everything. This week we are preparing to hear from Elder Cook, and one of the talks that he asked us to study is, "Valient in the testimony of Jesucristo.”  In this talk he mentions how stumbling blocks are everywhere and present themselves in ways that you would not necessarily consider a stumbling block and they can really make life difficult. This really spoke to me with how me and Hermana Yatos week went. One thing that is really stressed in our mission is to have 20 contacts a day. This might not sound like much, but just walking up to people and talking to them is harder then I thought…especially in spanish. One of my stumbling blocks is this worry about the language, about messing up, about what the person will think of me or what my companion will think of me. I just need to get over that and talk to people! Reading D&C 33:7-15 really helped me to have hope. Also with this talk I think I was able to really understand what I need to do to forget myself and get to work, so hopefully this week goes better.

Our baptism with Kevin this week I don't think is going to happen. He says he wants to know more but doesn't really have anything specific he wants to know about and I feel like me and my companion have poured our hearts out to him but nothing has really changed. It is really discouraging to know he has felt the spirit and has had the spirit testify to him but he just doesn't want it.

One funny story for you, but not so much for me…this last week some of our district got food poisoning from where we all ate together on our p-day! Hermana Yato, Elder Miconico, Elder Bumstead and me. Elder Bumstead passed out twice and while talking to one of his investigators and both times hit his head on their door…the rest of us where just in bad shape.

Although this week was challenging I have hope for this next week. Thank you for all your love and prayers.

Hermana Brasher

I’m still going!! Two months in and I kind of feel like I have been here for my whole life:) This week was good, not with our numbers though,  those were horrific but with my feelings about everything this week was much better.

With the majority of our investigators it is really hard to catch them when they are home. We have three that are progressing more then the others. With Janet our lessons go really well.  She listens and learns and I can tell she needs something more in her life because her eyes are always sad. I don't know what the perfect thing to share with her is. . . the thing that will just give here that push. The only thing holding her back is that she will not attend church! Then we have Percy, his lessons also go really well.  We usually only catch him maybe twice a week but a least always once. Percy is always really late to Sacrament meeting and leaves right after so that is a little discouraging because I want him to stay the whole time! Then there is Kevin. This week Kevin has made HUGE progress. Last week it was so hard to get him to just read the Book of Mormon,  but he read the Book of Mormon! Our lesson about the plan of salvation went really good for him and he really enjoyed church.  After church we had a lesson with Kevin and the Bishop about repentance and the truth of the church. At the end of the lesson Hermana Yato asked him if he would kneel down with us and ask our Heavenly Father if the church was true. During this prayer I was just pleading with the Lord that Kevin would feel and recognize the feeling and of the spirit testifying unto him and feel the love our Savior has for him. I do not know if he felt these things but at this time my heart was filled with so much love from our Savior for me that I wasn't asking for but that I needed more then ever and it is something that I want to keep with me forever!

People say my Spanish is getting better and I always feel like laughing when they say this because it isn't. The ward put up a list of the talks for next week and Hermana Yato, Elder Bumstead, and Elder Basilios names were on it and I got off the hook!! Until the Elders were all "she needs the practice,”  "she can do it, her Spanish is way good" …blah blah blah, and so i don't know if I am really off the hook or not..:)

I'm sorry I don't have a funny story for this week... but thank you for your prayers and everything.  I love you all!

Hermana Brasher 

Peru has ruined me from ever wanting a dog ever in my life. They are EVERYWHERE and they smell sooooooo gross!!!!! I literally don't ever want to own a dog unless I dress my cat up as a dog for halloween to be funny, that would be the only exception. There are cats here too, quite a bit. I don't touch them because who knows what they have rolled around in but they leave me alone and they don't smell as bad.

So I asked two people to be baptized this week and that is exciting because they said yes!… after Hermana Yato re-asked  them because you know... Spanish lol. Sometimes I am just talking in Spanish and slowly realize I don't even know what I am saying, my life is a big chiste (joke). No, but it really was a good experience. During the lessons I feel like our investigators really want this gospel in their life, especially Kevin. He has family members who are members so he knows quite a bit already, but in the lessons I can tell he's ready, the only problem is that he doesn't feel ready. Its hard to get people to WANT to read, pray and do the things we need them to do to gain their own testimony or at least start to gain one. 

Funny story of the week… My companion asked me to teach her a phrase in english that people say and the first thing that came to my mind is,  “don't do a half fanny job" I actually said it… and then after I said it I thought,  shoot! that’s only something we say in my family and I have no idea how to explain it, but i did and she asked, what is a fanny? So I pointed to her bum. lol and she was all,  “I thought that it was a butt" and then we went over all the names your booty has, and then said.. but what about (insert swear word)! I started dying laughing and said yes, but it’s not really one you should use on your mission! lol. It might not be funny to all of you but it is still funny to me… hence all the lol’s.

It’s slowly getting more and more hot, woot woot :( Well I don't really know what else to say about this week, a lot happened but not stuff you all would be interested in and I didn't understand half of it so i couldn't tell you much either;) 

I love you all. 

Hermana Brasher

Lima West!

Hola everyone! It’s official, I'm in the field and I can’t understand anything!!! It is so exciting I wish all of you could have this experience. Even though I might get one word out of every conversation I'm pretty happy most of the time which is weird... but good! Yes it is hard and can be really frustrating but I haven't cried myself to sleep yet. I might have woken up crying… but it’s all good in the Peru- hood.

Monday is when the first batch of missionaries left the CCM. I had a few of my favorites leave and it was like being separated from my family all over again. I didn't go in to the CCM thinking I would make friendships with people like this but I'm so glad that I did because they have changed my life. It was sad to see them depart but it will be so awesome to see then again!

Tuesday morning is when the rest of us left, and it was just as sad for me… and of course I was crying... but its okay because I made a few Elders cry too because I'm just that awesome. jk but we all did love each other so much. After we shook hands goodbye (sad life of a missionary) we all went our different ways… me off to Lima West! Once we all got to the mission home we went right out to a park and started prosoliting, that was a fun time that I bet you can just all imagine in your brains. After the prosoliting  they had all of the new missionaries in the chapel on the stand and all of our trainers in the congregation. Then they paired us up! My new companion is Hermana Yato! She is awesome. She is so caring and patient with me. She knows  quite a bit of english but we do a good job of speaking Spanish all day and a little english so I can try to help her learn. One day this week she taught me something about english grammar to help me with my spanish grammar.... talk about embarrassing! We just walk around all day in the dust talking to people while sweating all the day long. Surprisingly I like it! Right now we have 4 baptisms lined up with is awesome! Two of them Hermana Yato had before I got here so the ones I helped with are Percy and Angie. I am so excited for both of them.

Funny story of the week… well we have a penchanista and she feeds us really good food, the only problem is that it is a mountain of food.... so one day I was just not going to finish but I felt bad because I didn't finish the day before either, so once she walked out of the room I hurried and started putting my food in a napkin, Hermana Yato was helping keep watch and I was about to put it in my bag but she walked in! I just saved it on my lap and started eating and she was talking about how I ate all of it really fast and Hermana Yato was just trying so hard not to laugh the whole time. She finally turned her back and I got it in my bag and all was good. Once we left her house we just started laughing so much it was a good time. 

Well, life so far is good, it is hard with the language but I'm working on my faith and patience. I miss and love all of you!!!

Love, Hermana Brasher