Rainstorms!

Sveiki sveiki!!

I hope everyone had a great week. I can't believe it is already pday again. Time just keeps flying by! 

Last Monday we had a party for our senior couple who went home on Tuesday. We love them and are so grateful for them! The new couple is so awesome! They are learning Latvian and doing so great with it!! Then we just had lunch with all the Latvians. Later that night we had a lesson with the cutest, sweetest girl ever. She's the best and she wants to continue to meet with us wahoo! She has a crazy work schedule but on her free days she'll meet with us. I love her!! During her lesson the spirit was so strong and you could feel how well she was accepting it and open to it. While teaching her the Book of Mormon, I was explaining the pictures in the front and the spirit was overwhelming. She just soaked in the pictures and it helped my testimony of the Book of Mormon grow even more. I finished reading the Book of Mormon this week and that was an answer to my prayer of me taking Moroni's promise and asking again if it's true. The promise works! I love the Book of Mormon!

Tuesday we got to meet with Liga! She's been sick so it has been a few weeks since we've seen her and it was so good to see her. We had a fun lesson with her and then walking home we had a Baltic storm! My favorite thing ever! It started pouring and the rain drops were the biggest I've ever seen. We were soaked all the way through within two minutes and had a long walk home. No one was on the streets haha but anyone who did see us looked at us like we were crazy. When we were almost home one guy stopped on his bike to talk to us! We talked with him about two weeks ago. He overhead a contact and came up to us and asked some questions. He's the coolest! We see him everywhere and each time we talk to him he's more interested so with time we will meet with him! It was such a miracle! Then we got home and our shower had just been fixed so we were able to use it so we just dried off and went to bed haha. 

Wednesday we had dinner with Lizzie! In one lesson we told her our eating habits and how sometimes they aren't the best so she made us a super healthy dinner and it was the best thing I have ever eaten. I ate it three more times throughout this last week haha. It was so fun to be able to just sit and talk and get to know her even better! 

Wednesday I was at MLC! It was so fun! All my MTC group was there and it was fun to catch up with them and talk about this great work! The next day we had a mission conference with all the missionaries and were able to talk about how to improve and it is going to be so awesome! We talked about helping people more naturally want baptism and it really will change the mission. I'm so excited to see all that happens! While I was in MLC my companions had a great lesson with Anita and she even went street contacting with them!!! How cool is that?? She is the best person ever. We were also able to go to sports night again this week which is always super fun. 

Saturday we had such a great lesson with Dace. We talked about the gospel of Jesus Christ and at the end of the lesson she talked about how it was all an answer to her prayers. It's been amazing to see her grow this last year. She is a miracle! We also went chalking! There weren't too many people but still so fun! After we bought cotton candy too which made it even greater! 

Sunday was great as always. We had a great Sacrament meeting about the temple and we had two people there! and then we visited Masa Helena and I haven't seen her sitting up in like a year but we walk in and I go to say hi and she's not in her bed!! We all freaked out for a minute until we realized she was in the bathroom because she wanted to wash her hands. She is the funniest, cutest lady ever. 

This week I really focused on my real intent in my prayers and what I ask for and do according to that and daily repentance and it changed my whole week! My testimony has grown so much of repentance and we really do need it everyday. We may not commit big sins everyday but we could always do better and as I focused on that I had the spirit more with me and was able to learn a lot more about the gospel, Atonement, and myself. I love this gospel and I know it's true! Repentance is a gift to us! We must use it everyday. That's my invitation to everyone. This week find at least one thing every day to repent of and change! 

I love you and thank you for everything! Have a great week!

Love,

Masa Brunere

1: My comps always taking selfies lol

2: Chalking!

3: Caught in the rainstorm

4: Waiting for a lesson

5: Cotton candy

6: mlc

This is the best work!

Sveiki sveiki!!

This week was super great!! I hope everyone had a great week as well!

Tuesday we had an awesome day. We were able to meet with one of our members, Tamara. She is my favorite and just so strong. We talked about mothers because she was not able to make it to church last Sunday and then we also talked about the Book of Mormon. But she told us her two great advice she has received in life. Her first one is to look at yourself in the mirror every single day and give yourself a compliment like you are so pretty or cool. She has done that every day. The second one is when someone gives you a compliment to say thank you and accept the compliment and if it's about clothing say "I like it too!" She is one of my favorite people and I can see how the advice she has received in her life has given her more confidence. So I started looking at myself in the mirror and telling myself something and it works! It has helped me feel God's love for me even more! Then later that night we had a lesson with Jadviga. She was someone I taught last summer who ended up not progressing, but we had such a fun lesson with her. She believes some crazy things and ended up just prophesying my life haha. According to her, I will be marrying a Latvian, I'll be a journalist, and have three kids. She's the best haha. She is so cute and such a strong lady who can do anything! We also said 5 sentences in the whole lesson. She would stop and be like okay you're turn to talk but then continue to keep talking. She's the best haha. We also made our English night film for Facebook and it was a hit!! We are basically famous now, actually just Elder Edwards but it was still so fun. We have all thought about going into the movie business after the mission. But if you haven't seen it it's on my facebook! You can watch it for a good laugh!

Wednesday was also a great day. We had a lesson with Anita in the morning and right before she got there I had a feeling we needed to change rooms and meet in the Sacrament Room and I almost pushed it off because it didn't seem that big of a deal, but we were going to talk about the Sabbath Day and it would be good for her to be in there so I mentioned it to my companions and we decided to switch there. Before I continue I just want to say, DON'T PUSH OFF LITTLE THOUGHTS LIKE THAT! That was from the spirit! God knows what we need and He knows what is coming so listen, even if it doesn't seem like that big of a deal!! Because it helped so much with our lesson. We got to the room and we were just catching up and we could tell something was off. Well, turns out she had a pretty big question that had been troubling her and she almost stopped meeting with us because of it. She is so prepared, but that doesn't keep her from Satan! If we hadn't been in that room where the spirit was able to work with all of us soo much stronger and clearer I think I would have freaked out and we probably would have scared her away from us not knowing what to do. But God knows me and my companions and Anita so He had been preparing us for a week. And we were able to adjust our lesson plan to her even better so the Sabbath Day was finally able to make more sense to her. With Sister Loo's training, we had been watching the district where they talk about listening and before the lesson I had set a goal to listen better and good thing because then we were able to understand her better. She is still doing great and my love continues to grow for her. I love being a missionary and meeting the people that we do. Later on Wednesday, we went to the Bite family for dinner. They are also some of my favorite people and they fed us the best food!! We were also able to her Aivars conversion story which was so inspiring to keep going because God is preparing people for us. 

Thursday I got to spend the day with Sister Bolander!! We were able to go contacting and go to Game Night! It was so fun and she is one of my favorite people to be with. She's such a great missionary. We also handed out 4 copies of the Book of Mormon. Wahoo!! We probably won't get 50 because this is the last week of the transfer but we are 27 and we will get close to our goal! Being able to focus more on the Book of Mormon has really strengthened my testimony of it that it is the word of God and we must read it everyday! It's just so much better that way. 

Friday we were able to meet with Sandra again! She is the best. We taught some English and then went over family history with her. But the whole time with her was just so fun. Then we were able to meet with one of our returning members and we met with her the day after too! She just randomly called and asked us to meet. Such a miracle! Then we had sports night again which is always the best. Saturday we were able to go to the soup kitchen again and this time they had a chef come in and make this Chinese food for all the people and gave us some too and it was so good! Nothing better than the soup kitchen!

Sunday was such a great day. Getting to church was a little rough. There was a huge marathon going on that shuts down a lot of Riga and everything that gets shut down is where all our public transport runs so we had to be creative in getting to church on time but we made it! And it turns out that our tram we always take is completely shut down right now so more buses for us! But Sacrament was so good this week and we all learned a lot! Sunday school was also good. Recently, I have put a bigger emphasis on studying Come, Follow Me and it truly has made Sunday and the whole week better. Our Sunday school teacher has put a big emphasis on applying what we can learn and it was sweet to hear what everyone had been learning and how they want to apply that. They teach me so much every single week. I love the branch here! Later that day all us Latvian missionaries were invited to go to one of the American family's house for dinner and then to do a fireside for all the youth. So we all got on a train and headed to Jurmala, which is a different city. I've always wanted to go there so it was so fun! They were running behind a little on dinner so the kids took us to the beach which is basically in their backyard and it was so pretty! I love Latvija. And the fireside was all about my favorite thing, missionary work! All 7 of us were able to tell all the youth how we decided to come on a mission, the pros and cons, and how it's affected our lives. It was one of the best experiences ever. The spirit was so strong and I was filled with so much love for missionary work, my companions, the people in Latvija and for God and His goodness. Halfway through a drunk man got into the yard and tried to end it but nothing can stop us! We were able to get him locked out and then sing hymns until he left. This is the true church and this is the best work. I wouldn't change my mission for the world. These last 15 months haven't all been easy but as I tried to think of cons to tell the youth to be more real nothing bad would come to mind. The hard days just make me stronger and more ready and the good days well they are great!! If you are thinking about serving a mission, really consider it. It's hard, but there's so much joy that comes from it. Joy that can't be explained. When I first started out I wouldn't have thought I would come to love it so much, but there is so much joy that comes from running down the street to catch up to someone to share the gospel or being in a lesson and seeing the spirit touch someone or being with your companions all the time and just laughing with them. Missionary work is the Lord's work and I'm so grateful I get to be a part of it. I couldn't be happier!

Thank you for the love and support! I love you and have the best week!! 

Love,

Māsa Brūnere

Pics

1: All the missionaries in Riga!

2: Icecream!

3: Whiteboarding

4: us 4

5: BEach

6: me and sister loo!

Happy Mother's Day!

Sveiki sveiki and happy late Mother's Day to all the moms out there! Thank you for all you do!!

This week was great! We went bowling last pday with some of the elders which was super fun and for the first time ever I didn't get last place wahoo! We went to this new mall and it is huge!! It has a bowling alley and an ice skating rink. It's so cool! On the bus ride back we found someone's phone and got in contact with them and we were pumped to meet up with them because we were like this is our next investigator! But they were all like 7 years old haha so maybe in a couple years! Then that night we went to FHE with a few of our potentials and watched Cokeville Miracles and it was so good! We have been talking about it the whole week!

Tuesday Masa Lu headed to Imanta for a two-day exchange with a Russian sister and as Masa Bosvela and I were walking home she threw up just on the side of the road. I held her hair back laughing haha. Then she wiped her mouth and we continued talking to people on the way home! It was pretty funny! 

We had two awesome lessons this week with Anita. She is still doing great! We set a new baptismal date for her for June 8! I'm so excited for her! The members she has met are showing her so much love, it is such a blessing!

This week I also got to call into my brother's mission call opening which was such a blessing, he's going to kill it in Africa!!

On Friday she came to sports night along with 6 of our other potentials! It was so fun! We played frisbee and it was the best sports night we've been too! The elders also made the greatest video to get more people to come.

Saturday we had the soup kitchen which was fun and then we made a mother's day video with the elders. It was so fun making it! I'm so grateful for you mom! Thank you for all you do for me!! Then on Sunday we sang in church for Mother's Day and visited two of our members, one of them being Masa Helena. She's the best and always has the best stories haha.

 "Know ye not that ye are in the hands of God?" Mormon 5:23 Trust is leading us, just trust Him!

Thank you for all you do for me! Have the best week!

Love,

Masa Brunere

Pics

1: We made the yummiest cookies this week with our new oven that actually works!

2: Bowling!

3: Whiteboarding

4: From our balcony

5: My favorite part of Riga!

6: classic mirror selfie

7: me livin the thug life in the rain

And the cold is back!

Sveiki sveiki!

I hope everyone had a great week! 

Monday was a crazy but good day! We moved apartments and had a zone bbq and basked in the last day of warm weather for the week. It was such a fun activity with everyone and with great food!! Our new apartment is also so great! Our old one had lots of problems so it's been great to leave it.

Tuesday we had a lesson with Anita and a member and it was so great she's killing it! We had two other lessons with her this week and she is so prepared. It's been such a blessing to spend time with her, I love her!

We also had a lesson with Lizzie this week which went so well. We talked a lot about prayer and how much that can help us find answers and give us peace. I'm so grateful for prayer and for the opportunity we have to talk to God and to tell Him everything. It really does change the night to day and give us the peace and direction we need. We also had a picnic with a potential which was way fun. We played Jenga and our foundation was a bible and it's like our lives! If we are rooted in the scriptures and Christ we won't fall no matter how hard the winds may blow. 

We had an exchange this week and we were with sweet Sister Bolander! She's basically another masa and being able to spend another day with her was so fun!

Saturday we had a lesson with Dace and she's still killing it. She inspires me to be better! Every week she keeps growing and growing and it's such a tender mercy to be able to see. Saturday the elders also helped us move another bed into our apartment because Masa Bosvela was sleeping on a bed and I was sleeping in a doorway while Masa Lu was on the couch so it's nice now to have another bed! But we knew all the stuff wouldn't fit in a taxi so we carried it across Riga and on a tram (streetcar) to get it to our apartment and it was a sight to see! We had to make two trips and on one of them a nice man helped us carry some of the things to the tram stop! He had only been in Riga for one week and didn't really speak English and no Latvian but still the kindest person!

Church yesterday was sooo good! I got to sit next to Liga and first all the testimonies were so great. But Liga wanted to bear hers and she was nervous and I went to tell her something to try and help her know she can do it but as I looked at her I saw her head bowed in prayer. A few minutes later she opened her eyes and looked at me and told me peace had overcome her. I love this gospel. I love Heavenly Father who gives us the peace we need each and every day!! We also had a really good Sunday school lesson. One thing I loved was in the verses John 7:17 

If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.

one member had a great analogy with this. He said we can't learn to drive a car just by reading books but we must actually be in the car to fully understand and learn. The gospel is the same way! We need to read the scriptures to know what the gospel is but then we need to live it to have it become rooted in our souls and to fully understand it. I have seen how true it is. Not until I have lived a principle I've studied does it completely become a part of me. Action is so important!

Thank you for everything and have a great week! And happy early Mother's Day!!

Love,

Masa Brunere

Pics:

Another Great Week

Sveiki sveiki!!

We had a great week! it was full of crazy things and miracles!

This transfer we set a goal to hand out 50 copies of the Book of Mormon and so far our daily average is 1 or 2! It's one of my favorite things to give people a copy of the Book of Mormon because they just light up that they are getting this book for free. It makes their day and they are always so much happier afterwards. We have a few copies of the Book of Mormon with chocolate tied to them and those are my favorite to give away because then they for sure want it because it has chocolate! I have faith that out of all the copies we give away many good things will happen, maybe not now but eventually! 

On Tuesday we had a lesson with one of our members and we went on a walk with her in the woods and it was so fun. The spirit is always so strong when talking about God and being in His creation. I'm always reminded of the scripture in Alma 30:44 "he scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator."

On Wednesday we had lessons with both of our investigators. Inara was at work so we did a video call and were able to talk to her. And we committed her for a baptismal date for May 18! She has been investigating for a while and we know and she knows she needs this and just how much it will help her. But a few days later she texted us saying she's good with her religion which was super devastating but one day! Then we had a lesson with Anita and she also wants to be baptized May 18! And she's doing awesome! She is so fun to be with and understands and accepts everything so well. She is so prepared!! 

Thursday I saw all my friends from the MTC! It was so good to see them! They are the best and also makes my whole week better to see them. I even got to spend half a day with Sister Goodell! 

Friday we had a lesson with a potential we found this past week and it was so fun! She's not interested so we had an English class with her. There's a city here in Latvija called Bauska. No missionaries are there but it's somewhere I have always wanted to go there but she's from there and said one P-day she will take us there. I'm so excited! She's the best. We also had a lesson with one of our less actives and she took us to one of the restaurants here called Hesburger and everyone tells missionaries not to go there so we were terrified for what the food would do to us but then she came to the table with literally the best ice cream I have ever tasted. It was so good. 

Saturday we were able to serve at the soup kitchen and it was so fun. We also were able to have a lesson with Dace. I love her. She's honestly the best. Each week she comes to us with more things she's learned. 

Sunday we had the best surprise. Liga hasn't been able to come to church because of work. She talked to her boss about it but would still have to work all the Sundays in April. So we just assumed she wouldn't be at church but then she walked in! She was able to get work off. It was such a blessing! it was such a miracle! We also went and visited Zina our member and she was so excited! She is the cutest. We watch the Because of Him video with her and she said she can smile because of Him and it was the cutest thing ever. 

This week was another testimony builder that this is God's work. We found a new apartment this week and are moving in today, but it has made for a busy and tiring week. All of the hours before and after 9 have been packing and cleaning our apartment that has had missionaries for 10 years. Even though it has been super busy God has blessed us with so many miracles. I love being a missionary. This has been the greatest thing I have ever done. I'm so grateful for it!! j

Have a great week!

Love,

Masa Brunere 

Pics