Giardia and Elena Garcia

¡Ch'ona! ¿Ma sa sa'ach'ol?

Yeah that's k'ekchi for hey, how are you? Crazy right?! There's lots of K'ekchi speakers here in Coban! We found a new part of our area this week and it's pure k'ekchi, but we're super stoked! We contacted for 3 hours asking for 'Elena Garcia' just a way to break the ice :) Lots of people will listen to us if we ask them a question first, then ask to give them a pamphlet :) Yes we got this contacting thing down to a science!

The weather here is crazy! It's freezing and rainy for a few days then super hot with a ton of sun (I love it!) and then at night back to cold! But it's made everyone sick.. especially my comp :( It was super chafa, we couldn't work for a whole day because she was bad and took medicine and slept for 13 hours.. I got a lot of studying in :) I was reading a few Ensign's and loved some of the quotes, so I'll share em with ya!

'When we choose to follow Him, He really takes good care of us.'

'The more we try to get to the Lord's house, the more Satan tries to get us to give up before we get them belssing.'

'When we receive a prompting to serve, it is better to act and listen to the prompting then to wait around. Yes a special flower, homemade cookies, or a card are nice, but not essentioal. Timing and obedience are more important and we'll be given more opportunities to serve.'

'The more grateful we are the easier it is to recognize the blessings we receive and appreciate the lessons we learn from difficulties.'

So good right?! :)

We had divisions this week, my comp is from Mexico City and LOVES Guadalajara, we had lots to talk about :) haha but when we were on divisions I tries to answer the phone, but my hands were freezing and I dropped it in a puddle.... but it still lives!!! Woo :)

Yesterday we had a miracle, this week we were contacting and we met a lady named Daisy a pamphlet, she said she didn't have time to listen to us right then, but come back another day. Well we saw her in church yesterday and after we went to her house. Her neighbor invited her to go to church and she went! We invited her to be baptized and she said in time, yes! She's married (which is super rare) and has 3 little girls. She's definitely a chosen daughter of God :) I'm so excited for her!

Oh and I found out I have Giardia... I'm taking super nasty meds, but hopefully it'll make the little bug go away!

Have a great week :) Can you believe next week is March? What??? Time is flying! Love you!

Love, Hermana Brems 

                                                                  SUN!!!!!

                                                                A normal cold day

                                      The new area! There are people, I promise...

                                                           New Area!!!!

                                                           Hermana Escobar and I!!!

                                                               Lovin the Sun!!!!!

Yoohoo :)

Hey Everyone!!

How was your week? I hope you had a great one and celebrated a little dia de cariño on Saturday as well :) We kicked Valentines day with the Primary, we have an investigator that's 17 and he has 2 little cousins, Cristofer and Eliezer, they are 9 and 7. They came to church and heard about the activity and wanted to go so we took them and the ladies asked if we would help! It was fun, they shared a little message, played some games and then of course had lunch and a super cute cake! We noticed that Cristofer and Eliezer didn't eat any of their lunch so we asked them what was going on because all the other kids were devouring theirs. They said that they were going to save their lunch and give it to their grandma because she hasn't been eating. It broke my heart, I almost wanted to cry! Here 2 little kids gave up their lunch, which was nicer than anything they could ever get to give to their grandma. It's amazing the things little kids teach you, they are truly the best examples sometimes! The area is just kinda dead right now, the people aren't ripened yet or something, it's a little frustrating, but we're not getting discouraged and not giving up hope! This week a bolo asked us for money for tortillas, but he did it in a very rude way.. I told him he should have purchased his tortillas before he started drinking and then Hermana Escobar gave him a Word of Wisdom pamphlet :) He wasn't super happy, but maybe he read it when he got sobered up! I hope you all have a great week :) It's been absolutely freezing here, we wake up to frost and ice on the windows! ahhh I'm definitely an Arizona girl... I can't get enough of the sun when it comes out :) Love you!

Love, Hermana Brems

                                                        Valentines Day!

                                                We helped make a heart piñata with an investigator

                                      We helped make a heart piñata with an investigator!

                                                             Hermanas in black :)

                                                            Valentines Day :)

                                                            Valentines Day

                                                        Cute cake for primary

                                        I FOUND TRISCUITS AND OATMEAL SQUARES!!!!!!!

                                    I FOUND TRISCUITS AND OATMEAL SQUARES!!!!!

El Chippy chippy

Yoohoo hello family!!

How is everyone doing?! I seriously feel like I've come back into modern times after having spent a week here in Coban! Today we went to buy groceries and there were things like Goldfish, chexmix, peanut butter... Subway, mcdonalds... my mind is going crazy! There are so many things that I haven't had in all of my mission here in Coban like the weather, it's absolutely freezing! It rains a lot, they call it chippy chippy when it's sprinkling and oh boy it's done a lot of chippy chippying! But that's okay because there are HOT SHOWERS!!! Ahhhhh and I have a shower head for the first time too! The water is hotter with less pressure so you better believe I shower with just a trickle :) haha I am in a ward, totally different than a branch, they had all of the teachers there, what?!? that never happens! haha The area is really small, but Hermana Escobar said that there are lots of miracles and I am learning that to be very true! I love my companion, we get along super well, she's a sweetheart! She's from Panama and just about has 9 months in the mission! She's a lot of fun and she tells me everyday how much she likes having me as a comp, 1 because we're the same size so walking together isn't a problem! And 2 because she says I'm obedient, but very relaxed, patient, and understanding when things come up! It makes me feel so good :) I'm super happy :) Oh we put a baptism date with a lady that just gave birth and she said that she can't walk or read for 40 days after giving birth.. what??? A little different, but she accepted a baptism date for late March. The poor Elders here, they are 18 and 19 years old, they have 4 and 5 months in the mission, one of them is the DL and they are both new to the area and gringos. Hna Escobar said that she thinks they look up to me as their mom... just call me hermana momma Brems or Salchicha, that nickname kinda stuck with me! Have a great week and Happy Valentines Day :)

Love, Hermana Brems

                                       Yes I wore my raincoat and loved it!

Hermana Escobar and Hermana Portillo

                                                            Cooking at a members house

                                                          A little bit of the area

                                                 Warming up with my hair dryer :)

                                                        And I wore my boots

                                                 The house is tiny, but there are hot showers :)

                                                               My closet

                                                                My desk

´No hay que comer`

Hello hello everyone!

JORGE AND VICTORIA GOT BAPTIZED!!!!! Woooohoooooo :) A few day before their baptism we were asking them the baptism questions to prepare them and I said okay, Jorge, la Palabra de Sabiduria (word of wisdom) and he responded.. uhh no hay que comer (you can't eat)!! He was so proud of his response.. I was like, we can't eat?? Shoot I need to do a lot of repenting! I have been laughing at it since! But the baptism went well, one of the ZL's is going home this change so we had him baptize the kiddos for a last hurrah. The baptism started an hour late (Guatemala standard time) and their mom and younger siblings came. When Victoria came out of the water she started bawling. We were like... did she get water up her nose...? No water, she was really upset that her dad didn't come and support her.. poor gal. They bore their testimonies after and Jorge said he's never going to miss a sunday of church! So changes are here!!!!! YEAH :) I am going to a place called Los Campos, it's in Coban and my companion is going to be Hermana Escobar, I don't know her, but she's from Panama and I heard she's really nice and super quiet and a great missionary! So I think it'll be good :) I'm excited to get to know Coban even though it's cold and rains a lot haha! I didn't realize how much stuff I had... packing is a bear! Well, have a great week :) I sure love you all and I'm so thankful for all of your support!

Love, Hermana Brems

                                               We love the buses here!!

                                                    It was super cold this week!

                                                        Jorge and Victoria

                                                           Their fam

                                                       All the baptisms for the day!

                                                              Mexico skirt :)

A little hat shopping for Dad's bday!!!!!

'Shake It Off'

Taylor Swift couldn't have said it better right? Just shake it off.. haha This week was just one big trial and lesson with the members. I have learned so many valuable lessons about reliability, love, and helping others. I know the kind of person/member I want to be when I am not a missionary! I'm so thankful for the trials that Heavenly Father is putting in front of me and that I can learn them here and while I'm young! Woohoo :) And it was super bad but we were finishing a lesson and Hna Portillo was praying and all of a sudden the son Shake It Off came on... I might have started dancing in my seat a little bit hahaha just kidding :) 

We had suprise divisions this week, the sister trainers came knocking on our door and said suprise! It went really well though and the hermana said it was refreshing to go on divisions with us because we work hard and talk to lots of people and teach really well :) So good to hear. She also told us that we shouldn't ever get discouraged because we are literally in one of the hardest missions. She said not to compare ourselves to other missionaries in other missions because we're lucky as a mission to get 10 baptisms and that's like a month average for some missionaries! haha So that was also nice to hear!

Jorge and Victoria's dad signed their baptism papers wooohooo!!! Now they just have to pass their interview and they'll be baptized as members of the church :) They are going to be such wonderful example to their family, their mom is a super less active and is so excited for them and wants to go to church, but is going to wait until the building is done with construction here in Salama. Only 1 more month!

Well that was this week! I hope you all have a wonderful week and know how much I love you :) I'm learning more and more everyday about how amazing the Atonement of Jesus Christ is and how important this work is. Remember every member is a missionary forever and ever :) 

Love, Hermana Brems

Oh and congratulations Elder Del Toro on being the Assistant to the President :) I'm so proud of you and thankful for your example!

Making the donuts! sorry, only one pic today!

Another One Done!

Yoohoo hello family :)

Nothing too exciting happened this week, we didn't get chased by drunk guys, we didn't have a record number of investigators in church... it was just another week! We taught lots of lessons, met some nice people and met some not so nice people who just wanted to argue, church to church. haha There's an old man that lives down the street for us and he is always super duper nice, so we went to see if we could teach him and his wife, let's just say, we only eneded up giving him a pamphlet and getting the heck off of his patio! He tried to kiss us and told us not to worry that he keeps his beard and mouth very clean... and called me is Novia (girlfriend) Brems and said that he is my novio (boyfriend) Roberto. 

Jorge and Victoria are improving immensely! Jorge is remembering the things we are teaching him and is acting so much better in church. The kids started school so that will also help with his attitude, he won't have so much time to get into trouble! haha Well that's really all from me, sorry it's so short! Have a great week :) Love you!

Love, Hermana Brems

                                                     Hermana Portillo and I on the bus

                                                Jorge with 5 puppies

                                                     After church

                            After church, after my talk, we were goofing around!

                                   From today, we had a zone BBQ!

                                               Just out for a stroll!!!

Yoohoo hello family¡

The keyboard I'm using doesn't work perfectly, so sorry the exclamation points are upside down, but I am in Guatemala so it's fitting¡ and I can't do smiley faces... poodoo. But how is everyone doing? We had a great week this week, yesterday was bomb, we had 8 investigators in church¡¡¡¡¡¡ Ahhhhh We were both on cloud nine... we literally went home and had a dance party to MoTab¡ haha We had interviews as well this week, everything we super well, I have gained such a love for president and hermana Curtiss, the are wonderful people are truly love and care about all of us missionaries. We had a zone meeting as well and we played Simon Says.. they likened it to our life here and the life Jesus led. We are here to follow His example and we should do it like we are playing Simon Says, it was kinda fun and totally caught my attention¡ We met a guy named Ferdy this week, he is a reference from a recent convert and is super duper smart and wants to be baptized because he can see a change in his friend and wants the same kind of change¡ We're working with him, we know he'll get baptized sometime, hopefully soon¡ Jorge and Victoria are doing well, they are behaving better especially in church. The first couple of times I had to take a big dose of patience because they just didn't understand some things... but now they are doing much better and are making friends¡ Esvin is also progressing, he loves reading, the only thing he needs to get better at is praying. Ya can't know what to do without praying, duh¡ haha but he is preparing to be baptized the first week in February. That was pretty much the week in a letter... until next week¡¡ Make it a good one¡ Sure love you all.

love, Hermana Brems

                       Our little followers to church! 4 investigators and Rebeca, our recent convert!

                                                  Family Home Evening

                                                                  Dog dogs everywhere...

                                                                  2015 Gear!

                                                         A little horse play!