February is almost over..time flies

 I'm doing great today, and I've been feeling better for quite some time. I feel like days are eternity, so I don't actually remember how long ago I was sick. It just feels like a long time ago. Haha, I still sing and dance like crazy (in our room), no worries. Aw, I miss Zion's Choir so much! I hope they get to perform more soon.  The weather here (and always in Jaen) is HOT. It is always burning up! And my comp hates it. Luckily I grew up in California so I like it (most of the time). It is hard to proselyte in the heat though. Sounds like things are going good back home! Keep being awesome! (Haley was answering some of my questions here..I think you can figure out what I asked.)

So as for my week. I had a really hard week in all honesty. We had our investigator who was GOING to get baptized this week decide not to come to church yesterday, and had 'just a little bit' of beer on Friday for his birthday. So we've got some work to do with him. (He's 80, so it's kinda hard to change). He has desires though. He just needs a little more time. It was also hard because it's so hard to find new investigators in our area. Contacting is almost impossible here. It's all kids or young men, so we can't really contact them.

 But as for the good and normal:
We went to a chacra (a little farm) for pday last week and made some sort of peruvian food. (Just fried dough of some kind). It was fun to hang out with our district though. Only 2 out of the 6 of us are Latino, and so they have started praying in English in our meetings (the Latinos are supposed to be learning English out here). They're doing really good! Also, the elders made us chocolate chip cookies for our district meeting this last week. That's like unheard of down here. It was AWESOME!!! Hermana Favero's birthday is today (Happy birthday to her!). So she got a package last week. Her mom sent me a pencil that had a Minnie snow globe on it. It was so sweet of her! I took a picture of myself with it with Hermana Favero's camera. She also got new music- and one of the cds is a missionary tribute cd. So there's this one song that starts with a bunch of kids saying the date they can turn their papers in, and then it's just a song that's sung by the kids that's super upbeat, and makes me feel so good for being out here! (Even though I only knew for about a year that I was going before I came). I just LOVE the enthusiasm for missionary work that's growing even still since the age change. I love the mission, and I'm so glad it's getting even bigger!

We also helped the EQ president with his English assignment this week. He had to write a recipe for jello cake (it's a thing here) in English. So that was kinda hilarious, and fun to help with.

Sometime's I do things that freak my companion out because it's out of character for me- like asking for directions from a random lady in a shop to the closest internet.

We had an amazing lesson with Mari this week (we finally started the restoration with her!), and she listened really intently, but we haven't been able to find her since! Hopefully this week. I really want to know if she prayed. She's really close to the spirit, she just needs to have an open mind! (Also another discouraging thing was not being able to find her).
It was Hermana Favero's turn to get sick (only for a day- something different), so I finished the entire missionary library, including the 800 page Jesus the Christ I had already started).  I also planned out a lot of my immediate future after my mission. So that's nice.

So then last night, I kinda just cried a lot. But it's okay, because that hasn't happened in like 9 weeks (first time in this companionship), so I read my patriarchal blessing (and letters from Rachel which made me crack up). But this is the first time I've read through my blessing since I've gotten it that it felt like Heavenly Father was talking to me in the moment. I was just overcome with His love for me, and with tons of encouragement. I'm so grateful for the blessings that come from this church! Then Hermana Favero made me talk to her, and now it's her birthday, and I'm seriously in the best mood ever today! :D We went and took a ton of pictures (which this internet place doesn't have a way for me to send them, so next week. Sorry to tease). And I bought her lunch, and we decorated our room, and we're going to make cookies with our district later. So it's just what I needed. Pday can't have better timing sometimes. But I'm all ready to work this next week now!

I love you all! I hope everything's going good back home!
Con Amor,
Hermana Brogan

Feliz día de amor!

Mi familia, Feliz día de amor! I hope you guys had a good valentine's day. I celebrated to the extent I can as a missionary. (Meaning I got my companion a candy called 'obsesión' and wrote her a valentine). It said: Hermana Favero, Happy Valentine's Day. Don't have an 'obsesión' with love because you're a MISSIONARY. But you can love everyone. Because Christ does. Love, Hermana Brogan. It was pretty exciting. My companion thinks I'm really funny and dorky, so that's pretty nice.  :P

So I spent about half of this week getting better (I wasn't really sick anymore, just my energy wouldn't come back at all... so I was still kinda sick). BUT I finally asked the elders for a blessing, and they came over and Monday to give me one. The next day I was perfectly fine and able to work. I always worry about having enough faith when I get blessings of health, but it seems to work pretty well every time. So miracles happen. :) I like being a missionary. But, while I had to spend a day or two just laying in bed (my comp made me rest more just in case), we got a little trunky and started wedding planning (I blame Rachel!). But yeah, that was funny. I made up for it though later in the week spending a solid hour right before bed just laying there worrying about my investigators. Yeah, I really love these people a lot! Also, I'm getting to the end of reading Jesus the Christ! It's such a good (incredibly long) book. But I just read like crazy, because it's all so good! I love the story of Mary and Martha, and how he talks about them in there. He doesn't really reprove Martha, but just defends Mary for wanting to listen to Him. I love the respect Mary has for Christ. SO cool!

So we had a lesson with José. He decided we needed to be tougher with him. So we shared some harder scriptures and then taught him again about repentance. He's been going to church for about a year, and he just needs to move out so he can get baptized. His pareja told him the choice is up to him, but she won't marry him. SO he'll be looking for somewhere to live, and we plan on setting a date with him in March! We also shared about Zoram in 1 Nephi 4 with him and how he had to sacrifice a lot of things to go obtain the promise land, and had to make an oath too. So we talked about a covenant path, but how it requires sacrifice. I was happy to have found that analogy!

So they fumigated our room this week. How they do that here in Peru, they do every house on the street, knock on your door one morning, and have you get out of your room. So Hermana Favero had JUST gotten out of the shower, and we ran across the street to the pensions after getting dressed super fast. It was crazy! It's also kinda hilarious. I also took a picture. Yeah, definitely a different way of doing things!

We had a mission night this week (Just games with the ward, investigators, whoever we can get to come). We did a ton of relay races and it was a ton of fun!

So the elder's pension's husband is Hermano Antonio, our mission leader, and brother of our penionista. Anyways, Elder Nordhoff had been trying to teach him 'chubby' and Antonio was over at our pension, and tried to tell us. Well Hermana Favero and I heard 'shove it' and were like, Elder Nordhoff! Why would you teach him that. But then he called Elder Nordhoff to clarify the spelling, and it was just the word chubby. After we had tried to explain what shove it meant... Awkward moments.

We also have an investigator who's super challenging, Mari, but I really like teaching her! She basically just wants biblical proof for everything. (We started with the plan of salvation with her because of her son who passed away. but luckily, Hermana Favero has tons of good scriptures from an invesitgator in her last area who was also hard. But once we show her scriptures, she's totally on board. So I hope she can start progressing. We soft committed her to baptism, but she won't come to church yet. One day! I have hope. :)
That's about it for my crazy week!
love, Hermana Brogan

Apartment getting fumigated

Pension's backyard

Haley's fabulous companion

Spanish dream

Family! And friends,

So this week has been interesting. I got a little stomach bug, but I'm on my way to recovery! (Meaning I'm practically better.) But, something I've been forgetting to tell Dad (unless I already have) is that my companion's dad also served in Venezuela. Maracaibo. Pretty neat, seeing as both of there daughters are here serving in Peru! Also, I had my first Spanish dream this week! It was really sad though because in my dream I got sent home early (no reason given), but I was really sad to be home, so I found everyone Spanish speaking I could and spoke to them in Spanish about random stuff. Took me long enough!

We got TWO investigators to go to church this week! Elsi and Eduardo (one of the viajitos). Elsi was so cute, and so excited to go. And we finally got Eduardo there! We went to go pick Elsi up, and she asked us to go buy bread, but it was the Sabbath, so instead we went all the way back to our Pension to get some bread for her son to eat. It amazes me how humble the people are here.

Also, we have a new investigator Mari who I really like. She's kinda interesting though. SHe asks a ton of questions- partly to challenge us, but also partly to know. She had a son die of cancer a few years ago at the age of 7, so she was curious to know what happens after death. :) We left her on a cliffhanger with the plan of Salvation though, so next lesson!

Also, we had our "multi" (just Jaen) Zone conference (since we're like 7 hours away from the mission home, the mission president comes to us). And so I had my interview with President and Hermana Williams. Hermana Williams told me that my companion told her very wonderful things about me and how I'm doing really well here. So I asked Hermana Favero about it that night, and she told me that she told Hermana Williams that I've just been able to unwind here after my last companionship and that I'm just glowing. She's SOO sweet! And then President Williams was very impressed when I prayed in Spanish. He said it's always interesting how the missionaries will come back for their second interviews three months later and speak better Spanish than him. He's really funny. I told him only with the gospel. He said that's what I'm called here for, and if some peruvian went off talking about how their canary escaped from its cage, he wouldn't know those words either. :)
That's all for the week,
love you all!
Hermana Brogan

The Lord answers prayers

Family!!! First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!!!! Sorry I can’t do much else from here, but I love you and I hope it was a great day! Second off, I've learned a ton from Hermana Favero-teaching clearly and simply, to just relax when I contact (It’s still hard for me), and about her love of Barney. It brings me so much joy. She’s so funny and sweet. But it’s so hard to contact here, nobody really contactable is out and about… But we’re doing the best we can to contact families, and women, and knock doors. We were having a particularly hard night when I suggested we go pray. So that we did, with all our hearts. Hermana Favero said it, and afterwards we went to our desks to try to find answers. And she opened to Alma 31. The prayer he said was SOOO similar to what we had just prayed. And ideas poured out. We’ve decided to go through our area and knock every door a second time, and try harder to get ourselves in the door right away. And a few other things that are on a paper on our wall… But anyways, the next day, the Lord poured blessings out on us. Two people invited us in no questions asked, people were contacting us, and we had an amazing lesson with this lady, Pilar, who is looking to change her religion, and is very open and honest. I’m excited to go back!
So that was all super cool! Also, ever since a lesson we had last week, we have tons of kids who always come up to us to ask us how to pronounce their names in English. It’s usually practically the same. And with Spanish names, it IS the same. But sometimes they ask us other random words too. It makes Hermana Favero and I super happy. It is so fun!

Our baptismal date with the viajito Eduardo is going to fall through, he has to go buy medicine every Sunday or something like that. Our sister leader told us he does this- has baptismal dates and then it falls through again and again. We’ll do what we can though. Maybe this will be the time. Or maybe not…

So as for Jose, not much progress, but we haven’t visited him in almost a week. Next time we go, we’re going on splits with ward members, so it will be just me teaching him. I’m excited! And nervous to handle heading a lesson, but I know I can do it. I’m pretty sure Hermana Favero still has more confidence in my than I have in myself… Aaaand, Danny just wrote me an email saying talking on the phone in Spanish is the hardest. Glad one of my best friends is having the same trial as me. :P No but really, I’m loving that I speak Spanish!

We also had a lesson with Patricia this week. She already has the first three lessons, but we just haven’t been able to find her for a while. She’s super cool though. But I don’t have too many details on her yet. There were baby chicks running around during the lesson though. Kinda fun. And with Pilar, there were parrots. One of them knows how to laugh! AAaaand, while tracting, I pet a cow this week! Hermana Favero loves animals. She might be a vet tech when she goes home. So she is my brain with how to deal with the animals here. But I pet a cow! I love that there’s just cows around. :D

Also, whoever decides to write me, I’m going to start printing them out, so write me MORE, more details and whatever. I’ll have time.

 I love you all!