I'm Leaving On A Jet Plane!!

Hello friends and family!!

I hope everyone's week has been great! I am officially leaving the MTC early, early Monday morning!! I'll get to Latvija on Tuesday and I am so so so excited to finally get there! Also, I have been singing the song "I'm leaving on a jet plane" since Friday and I'm pretty sure everyone is excited for me to leave so they can stop hearing me sing it haha. But I'm leaving yay!! It will be hard to leave the MTC. I have come to love it soo much (expect the food, definelty will not miss the food haha). But I have learned so much here so fast. I am grateful for all the time and work that is put into the MTC to make it so wonderful! It'll also be really hard to leave my wonderful companion and favorite roomies and my amazing teachers. They have taught me so much and we have so many fun times together. I am so grateful for the MTC!! It's such a great way to start a mission and I'm grateful I got to spend so much time here. It will be missed, but we'll all be off to even better things yay!! I get to travel all the way to Latvija with Sister Christensen, Smith-Drigss, and Austin, so I am really excited for that!

This week was really good though! Last Wednesday night during class Sister Christensen, Elder Blake (solo elder in my district), two other missionaries, and me got to help with an MTC tour! At the end of the tour they all came into one of the meeting rooms we have and they got to ask "real-life" missionaries questions! It was so fun! They were little so their questions were cute and it was so fun to do. Yesterday Sister Christensen and I got to skype the Lithuanian sister who will be coming in a few weeks after we leave. She'll be a solo too so it was fun to answer her questions and concerns about that and missionary work! On Thursday Sister Christensen and I made friendship bracelets with string she brought haha. Everyone wanted to be like us and have one so a lot of our zone has friendship bracelets now. I felt like I was back at girls camp haha it was so fun.

Friday we had another lesson with Alice. It was so amazing. Sister Christensen and I put a lot of thought and prayer into her needs and the whole planning process for the lesson was so cool to see unfold. The spirit was able to tell us what she needed and promises that we could give her. As we went into the lesson she had lots of questions like usual but the spirit was strong. At one point we thought she had lost all interest but we knew she was actually just really thinking about the gospel and that she does want this in her life. The spirit is so amazing. As we promised her the specific blessings of reading the Book of Mormon the spirit got so strong. There was no denying that this is Christ's gospel. We invited her to be baptized and she said she doesn't think she's ready for it but she does see a need for the gospel in her life now and is keeping her committments. We had our last lesson with her on Monday which was really hard. Even though Alice isn't real, the feelings we all felt together and the lessons learned and the love we had for her made it really hard to leave that last lesson. She committed to baptism on Monday and knows how good the gospel is and knows when she is feeling the spirit. What an amazing work this is.

On Saturday I had a lesson with Zenija. She has a shorter attention span and so this lesson I really prayed to find ways to relate things in the gospel to her. She owns a farm and loves to knit and the gospel of Jesus Christ has so many analogies for those two things. I love it. It was so great. The spirit was so strong. I knew at one point she was feeling the Holy Ghost and I wanted her to realize that so I asked her how she was feeling and she said "labi" (good) and I kept asking how good felt to her but it wasn't making sense and then the wonderful Gift of Tongues brought the word to explain back to my memory and I was then able to ask what I wanted and she realized what she was feeling, such a cool experience. She also usually recites a memorized prayer, no matter how many times I tell her to use her own words haha, but she prayed using her own words because of the spirit. I just love being a missionary and witnessing these kind of miracles.

Yesterday I had my last skype TRC. When we got there I was so excited but Madara, who I would be skyping, wasn't answering. I was sad because I was so excited to talk about Easter with her. But then after like 30 minutes she said she still could and I got to skype her!! It was so fun and understood more than I thought I would. It was so sweet to hear her bear her testimony about Jesus Christ. Even though I didn't understand a lot of it, I could feel the spirit and her love for the gospel. It made me so excited for Latvija and I'm so excited to get there!

We are so blessed to have Easter and General Conference in the same week! I have loved being able to focus even more on Jesus Christ this week. The UK put out a beautiful Easter video. I'll put the link in here so you can watch it. But after you watch think of Jesus Christ has been there for you because really He is always there for us. 

Because Jesus Christ lived the life He did and suffered for each one of us we have so much. Make a list of things you are grateful for because of Him. Some things I thought of were:

Living with my family for eternity

Being a missionary

Knowing death has no victory

Book of Mormon

Never have to be alone

Having a bigger perspective

Jesus Christ loves each one of us so perfectly and because He does He suffered for each on of us so He could know how we feel at every point in our lives. Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world and through Him we can all be saved. I am so grateful for this knowledge and my Savior, Jesus Christ. Give something more to Him this Easter time. 

I am so so excited for General Conference too! I'm excited to see what they all have to say! It's been so fun preparing for it! And the first Sunday I am in Latvija is when they should be watching general conference so I'll watch it in English here and Latvian there! I am so excited!

I hope you all have a great week! Next time I send an email I will be in Latvija, wahoo!!

Happy Easter!

Love, 

Māsa Brūnere

Doctrine and Covenants 76:22

"And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!"

http://www.lds.org.uk/jesus-christ-is-always-there-easter-2018?lang=eng-gb

https://www.mormon.org/easter?cid=HP_FR-15-3-2018_dMIS_fCNWS_xLIDyL1-A_

Watch these videos please!!

Pics:

1: Look we are matching! so fun, going to miss her lots :(

2: Idk it was a long week and those are some of the toys we have

3: Flight plans!!!!!!

4: Last floral Tuesday pic

5: You'll only understand the last pic if you watch the first video ;)

Mēlis, Mēlis, Kartupēlis

Sveiki! 

Another week down and in less than two weeks I'll be off to Latvija! This Friday I should be getting my travel plans and I can't wait! Sometimes I feel like I've been here for forever. It'll be weird being in the real world haha! But this week went by fast and was really good!

First, the subject of this email means "liar, liar, potato." In English we say liar, liar, pants on fire but in Latvian they say liar, liar, potato. I think that it's soo funny. Haha we all say it a lot because it is is random but it does rhyme so I guess it makes sense haha! There's your funny Latvian saying for the week! 

Funny story:

So on Sunday morning I was blow drying my hair in our room and Sister Smith-Driggs starts blow drying her hair as well and then all of a sudden the lights go out and we blew a fuse haha. Our room and the room next to us had no power and we were all trying to get ready haha but that's okay because we had the bathroom. But after breakfast Sister Christensen and I went and talked to the front desk but I gave the wrong building number and didn't notice until the next day so we had no power until like 7 Monday morning, but it was soo fun. That night we used our flashlights to get around but I still had all the glowsticks my mom had sent me so we had a glowstick party! It was honestly the best, most fun night here at the MTC. We just sat in a circle with all our food and had a balloon and played games with it and just had the best time. I was so grateful the lights were still out so we could have that party! Waking up the next day though was harder because we didn't have light hahaha. But still the best thing. But for future reference only one person can be blow drying their hair in the rooms!

On Thursday I had a lesson with Ženija and it was really rough. I honestly did not know what to do to help her and it was just really rough. After we talked about it and how I could have done better. With  Ženija I had built a wall between me and her that was making the language a barrier and making it hard for the spirit to be there because I didn't know how to reach  Ženija and help her be interested and feel the love Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have for her. I have another lesson with her on Saturday and I was really nervous for it but I put so much prayer and though into it. And when I went in we had a great time together. We were going to sing "Es Esmu Dieva Bērns" which is I am a Child of God. We sang the first verse together but she didn't want to sing the second one with me so I sang it by myself so she could hear the words. Haha let's just say I am not the best singer, but it was cool to see that I was actually able to do it! But it was such a good and fun lesson. We were able to laugh through all of it and feel the spirit. She even committed to baptism! It was such a good experience to see how important it is to love the people, not be afraid of not knowing the language, and not being afraid of what they might say. I know that the message I have will help everyone so there is no reason to build that wall up. I am so grateful I was able to learn that lesson here in the MTC. 

With our English investigator we also had an amazing lesson with her, all thanks to the spirit. Alice has always been very blunt and sometimes brutal haha. But this lesson had the spirit so strongly and she asked so many good questions. We were able to help her realized that Christ really is there for her. Her heart opened up and she told us the actual feelings of her heart. The spirit is the best!

This week I had my last lesson with Kipris. I was so sad. I have loved teaching him and getting to know him better. He referred his friend to me, Karlis. So I will be teaching him now! I am so excited! It'll be different because he doesn't believe in God and I have never taught someone who doesn't believe in God, but I am excited for the opportunity. 

Yesterday I had skype TRC's and there was someone to skype! Her name was Agnese and she's living in Ireland. She is less active but loves helping the missionaries. These last few weeks we have been practicing teaching less actives so it was fun to actually teach a less active and how I needed to adjust my lesson to help her the best. The connection was really bad and I don't understand a lot so it was hard in that way but it was sooo fun. She was at work and had to keep leaving to help customers so it went a long time but we actually didn't talk that long haha. But it made me excited to help the Latvija come unto Christ. 

For our Tuesday Devotional last night Elder Renlund came! Another apostle! I feel so blessed to be here at this time to have heard so many wonderful devotionals. He talked a lot about the joy of the gospel and Jesus Christ. This is such a happy work and I am so happy to be sharing the good news of the gospel and telling others of their Savior, Jesus Christ!!

After the devotional we talked about it with our district and one of the branch presidency members said "If you're gonna laugh about it later, laugh about it now." I loved that! It's so easy to get stressed and when something goes wrong or we say something funny in our languages it's easy to get embarrased but instead laugh it off!

Sister Christensen spoke on Sunday in church and did amazing!

One video we watched this week really stood out to me. It was Elder Holland's testimony of the Book of Mormon. I'll put the link in, but please watch it. It is so powerful. I love the Book of Mormon and know it's true. By reading it you will find strength to make it through the days. 

The gospel is true and I love being a missionary! I hope you all have the best week!

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2010-03-08-testimony-of-the-book-of-mormon?lang=eng

I love you!

Māsa Brūnere

Pics:

1: Weekly Floral Pic

2: My favorite people here. I love them

3&4: Glowstick party!

Dievs ir labs

​​Sveiki Family and Friends, I hope everyone is doing great!

Another week down at the MTC! Time is flying by. I'll be in Latvija sooner than I think which is crazy to think about! 

Not too many exciting things happened this week, but it was still a great week. On Thursday I had my last in person TRC. It was so fun and a great experience. One of the sisters who came was so sweet and really brought the spirit. She was also a solo sister when she was in the MTC and it was fun to hear about her stories and adjusting to teaching with a companion in the field. I am grateful for the opportunity and for those returned missionaries who took time to come! They taught me a lot and have made me really excited for Latvija. 

Every Sunday about two missionaries get chosen to speak during Sacrament in their mission language, but we never know who it is until they announce it right before it's time to go up. This week I was called on. I was so nervous and shaking really bad haha but it was a fun experience and fun to bear my testimony in Latvian to my zone. On Sunday we also had the opportunity to hold a Sacrament meeting for the employees of the MTC who have to work on Sunday. It was really fun to do because they do so much for us missionaries throughout the week and being able to do something for them was really nice. Our Sunday night devotional was really good. Part of the MTC Presidency spoke and mainly just told stories about missionaries they know, but it was really good because you knew how dedicated those missionaries were and it really motivated me to work even harder and become more dedicated to this work. 

This week Sister Christensen and I got a new English investigator to teach together. Her name is Alice and she is basically meeting with us because she just wants to know more. It's been a great experience though as we have been sharing the truths of the gospel that she has been willing to open up more and read the Book of Mormon. This has also strengthened mine and Sister Christensen's relationship more. I love Sister Christensen, she's the best, and I'm grateful I get to be her companion! The weather this week was soooo nice too! We got to study outside! So fun! I think I even got a little tan haha! Studying outside honestly made the week so great and changed up our days that are usually always about the same! 

Tuesday we had our first skype TRC where we teach a member from the country we are going to. However, with daylight savings this week the time got messed up and there was no Latvian available so I didn't have the chance to do it. I was able to leave a video message with the summary of my lesson I had planned, which was good. I was sad I didn't have anyone to teach because I was excited to finally meet a Latvian, but there's always next week! 

I am grateful to be a missionary and be doing the Lord's work! This week I studied about patience and one scripture I really liked was Alma 34:40-41. I like these verses because it shows that we will all have trials, but there is a reason for them and we will grow from them so we need to have patience through them and know that we have Christ and His Atonement to help with those burdens. I love this gospel! Have a great week!

Love,

Māsa Brūnere

40 And now my beloved brethren, I would exhort you to have patience, and that ye bear with all manner of afflictions; that ye do not revile against those who do cast you out because of your exceeding poverty, lest ye become sinners like unto them;

41 But that ye have patience, and bear with those afflictions, with a firm hope that ye shall one day rest from all your afflictions.

Pics

1: We love our fidget spinners!

2: Weekly Floral Tuesday Pic

3: We have made Floral Tuesday a thing, we are trend setters!

4: Zone pic!

5: Bubble wrap

Half Way There! Oh Living on a Prayer!!

Sveiki!! 

This week I hit the halfway mark in the MTC! This time next month I will be in Latvija, so crazy!!

One of the funny things from this week was we were reviewing numbers in class and my teacher, Brother Curtis, wanted to play a game with it. But, being the only one in the class it's a little hard to play a game. Haha so he decided to play the game where he writes the number on the board and whoever says it the fastest wins, but I was the only one playing so I won everytime haha. That's one great thing about being a solo, I always win the games we play in class!

Sunday was such a good day and very much needed. All the meetings were so great and all what I needed to hear. I was able to grow so much and find ways to keep improving. Missions are hard, but if they were easy we could never grow! The same goes for life in general. If it was all easy we would learn nothing. The great thing is we always have Jesus Christ to help us through. I am so grateful for Him and the knowledge I have that I am never alone.

Monday was full of exciting things. When we went to morning class the fire alarms were going off so we all got to stand outside in the cold for a few minutes while they figured that out. It was exciting even though it sounds super lame haha. Later that day other fire alarms went off so it made our day different than usual which was fun. We also got Chick-Fil-A again this week! Which was a blessing haha. I love the days when the food is from outside the cafeteria! 

Last night at our devotional President Ballard came!!! I am so grateful to be in the MTC at this time to have him and Elder Holland come! He let anyone ask questions about missionary work and then he answered them. It was a cool experience. Being a missionary is such a blessing and I am so grateful to be here! One of my favorite things he said was if we can end every night night on our knees and tell Heavenly Father that we did our very best in teaching, finding, and every aspect of missionary work then we are successful missionaries. And I loved that because I know I will be rejected a lot in Latvija but that it's okay because as long as I am trying my best everyday and giving it all I got I am pleasing Heavenly Father.

One thing that we did better in class was SYL, meaning speaking Latvian as much as possible. We had been doing it but at times we would get lazy with it and slack on off. But we set goals to work even harder on it and it was amazing, I was able to watch my Latvian grow at such a fast rate! In a lesson this week I was also prompted to share a story and I as I began sharing it I was able to remember words I had only seen in passing and talk around words I did not know. It was such an amazing experience. The Gift of Tongues is real and the Holy Ghost really will bring things back to our remembrance. 

I am so grateful to be here, I love being a missionary and the love this gospel and Jesus Christ so much. I hope you all have a great week!

Pics:
Our weekly floral Tuesdays pic for you :)
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