January 8, 2018 – Week 67!

Good week! I don't have tons of time to write today, so I'll get in the important stuff.

first off, I have transfers tomorrow to the zone Las Flores. I'll let you know how it is next week!

So we heard that President Monson passed away this week. It's sad, but the best part is: the work of the Lord continues! We'll be soon hearing about our new Prophet and new Apostoles! I can't wait for the next General Conference! It will be an exciting time!

We finally got to know our sector this week too. The bishop went with us and the 4 other missionaries in the ward to walk around the sector limits so we could all know. Our sector is a bit smaller now, but we finally found a part that we didn't know where it was!

My companion Elder Nogales celebrated his birthday this week!

We also had a family home evening with the 6 missionaries in the ward and the bishopric and their families. It was a great spiritual experience, and some of the messages were directed right at us as missionaries, and they were so awesome! (The pizza was nice too) The Bishop even included in his message a part explaining how the way we do General Conference is found in the Old Testament! It's in Nehemiah 8. He helped us to know that even after our missions, we should always have the strength to move onward, and stay active in the church. There are too many people that go inactive for small reasons, but the real way to pass through all your trials and receive happiness in this life is by staying active in the church. We must do all we can to repent of our sins, and trust in the Lord so that we can have strength to move on and receive Eternal Life! I know that all of us have that potential. Always remember your testimony, and always remember that the Savior suffered and died for each and every one of us. Thanks to Him, we can do all things.

We also had a contacting activity this week with the zone. We all went to the stake center, and took copied pages of the Book of Mormon to share with people so that they could mark them with all the references they saw to Jesus Christ. It's a great way to introduce people to the gospel! We then contacted other people even if they didn't want to do the activity, and we were able to get some good references! Elder Mena and I contacted about 24 people in an hour, and of those 24 we received 9 addresses! It was a great activity!

The Ssiters in Valdivieso also had a baptism this week! It went well.

Light went out in the cerro on Saturday before the baptism, so for a little bit we were walking in the dark until we went to the baptism because we couldn't work too much in the hill in the dark.

Sunday was cool, we had 2 investigators who came to church! Fransisca is one of them, and she's preparing for baptism! We thought she was a member, and she said she was baptized, but her papers aren't there and her name isn't registered, so we'll be baptizing her to be sure that it is valid!

We've also had some great family home evenings this week, and have gotten to know many members.

Today was good! In the morning we played soccer, and I think I stubbed my toe pretty bad, but hey, at least it's not broken! Then we had to go home, then cut our hair, then wait for the zone leaders to revise our apartment, and then we went to revise other apartments and then eat lunch. Now we're writing right before p day ends here because we haven't had time before and there was no other internet place available to write at. It's been a stressful day, but a good day too! 2 missionaries in the zone are also going home tomorrow. Finishing their full-time missions! Crazy to see. I keep thinking every day that I've better be a good missionary to not be regretting anything I do here in the short 2 years I have!

Hope you all have a great week this week!

Elder Bruner

zone pic

pic from up in the hill

cuy farm. a  little one

with Elder Perez in intercambios.

A sunset pic I took from the top of the cerro

A little mariachi band was playing outside our house. Then they entered in an apartment and played for like an hour I think. It was hard to sleep because they played for so long haha. But I like the music!

Us and some of the Chachi family. We ate with them on Sunday.

Me and Elder Ralphs. He also finished his mission and is going home tomorrow at 1am. Crazy flights for those going to Utah.

My companion Elder Nogales and I eating at el Rancho Loco today for lunch. They served SO MANY FRENCH FRIES today. The fries here are always big, never the little stick ones like at McDonalds. Only McDonalds and KFC and Burger King here have those small ones, and other restaurants like Bimbos etc.