Hermana Brewster's Homecoming - Sunday, August 14

In two days, Hermana Brewster will be stepping off the plane from Panama to a waiting family excited to see her. We are so proud of all of her service and her dedication to the people of Panama and her sweet testimony of the gospel. She will probably be a bit more tan than the rest of us (ha - try A LOT darker than the rest of us).

For anyone wanting to hear her report on her mission, Hermana Brewster will be reporting on Sunday, August 14, at the North Canyon 6th Ward at 9 a.m.

We're so excited to welcome her home!

Los mejores 18 meses de mi vida

Dear Family,

Well. Here we are. The last one. I can't tell you how I'm feeling because the emotions seem to be shot up on novocaine at the moment.

This might be the strangest thing to ever be written in a going home email from a missionary, but this past week my greatest lesson came from a Rolling Stones song that popped inexplicably into my head: "You can't always get what you want...but if you try sometimes you just might find you get what you need."

For weeks and weeks I've been praying that the Lord would let me see a wedding before I go home and I was granted that request--though it's not what you all think. On Saturday I, along with about 8 other missionaries, got to attend the sealing of the Familia Salinas from Santiago, my last area. (In case you don't remember, this is the cute little family that sang "Chiquitita" with Hna. Aguero and me.) They asked special permission from President to have us there in their sealing since neither one of them has family that are members. Among the missionaries that were invited to attend were Hna. Graham, Hna. Aguero and the Robisons, so it was basically one joyous reunion in the temple for the last time. I've never seen anything more beautiful than that sealing. Hna. Kathy was so excited that she said, "¡Si!" several times prematurely in the sealing and it was adorable. They were so happy. Even though they weren't technically "my converts" I felt so blessed and privileged to be there sharing in the experience with them. There were many things I prayed for in the mission that I never got--but the Lord always had some way of blessing me beyond what I thought was capable.

And yesterday...that's when the dam burst. Of course my last Sunday in Panama had to be Fast and Testimony meeting. I was sitting in the back with some recent converts, already feeling emotional and trying to control the tears when one of the brethren got up to bear his testimony and said, "And with the permission of the bishopric, I would like to invite Hna. Brewster to come up and bear her testimony, seeing as this is the last day she'll be here with us. We would love to hear what you have to say." So of course, on that note, I couldn't very well stall any longer. I got up to bear my testimony and within the first minute I was bathing the pulpit in tears. I'm not even sure that what I said was discernible, but I tried to thank the ward for all they had done for me and let them know how much I really loved them and was going to miss them.

It was good I got all the tears out then because what came later on last night would have burst any tear dam wide open. My dear ward members threw me a going away party at the chapel that had me feeling like I was tending my own wedding reception...or funeral. They had Hna. Rodriguez and I sit front and center and several people took turns sharing words of gratitude, advice and love. Among those who spoke were Hna. Francia, Hna. Maritza and several people who had known me since my first day in La Dos Mil almost 18 months ago. ("When Hna. Brewster started her mission here, she didn't understand anything we were saying and now she understands PERFECTLY!") Hna. Francia broke down into tears thanking me for everything I did in helping their family grow in the gospel and that she wished I could be there for her wedding and baptism, but that the Lord would allow me to be there in spirit. Hna. Maritza said she thanked the Lord for answering her prayers and sending two angels to her door with the message of the gospel. She also said she'd miss my "celestial singing." Several ward members presented gifts (which I'll be able to show you soon) and there were a couple of special musical numbers by the primary kids who sang "We'll bring the world his truth" and the Familia Sanchez (with whom we eat lunch every day) who sang "God be with you til we meet again" with the rest of the ward helping out to sing the chorus.

You can imagine how absolutely overwhelmed I was. I'm still in shock over all of it. I kept thinking to myself, "Who's this Hna. Brewster they're talking about? Surely it can't be me. I don't deserve this." The truth is that the greatest lesson I learned on the mission is that the Lord really is at the helm of everything. He really does all the work but he lets us feel like we had a hand in it. I always thought that at the end of my mission I'd feel so proud of myself, so accomplished. Really though, I can't take any of the credit because it was the Lord that carried me every step of the way, despite my flaws, my weaknesses and imperfections, he let me be an instrument in his work. I am so very grateful for this mission and for the incredible lessons I've learned in such a short space of time.

Por lo bonito, lo feo, lo bueno y lo malo, estoy sumamente agradecida. Sé que esta es la Iglesia verdadera y que mi Salvador vive. Esta es su obra y El la dirige. Hay tantas bendiciones que nos esperan si solo ponemos nuestra confianza en El y seguimos fieles hasta el fin. Dios realmente no ha cesado de ser un Dios de milagros y yo sé que el nos ama y quiere que seamos felices. Mi mision es la evidencia de que la imposible is posible con la ayuda del Señor.

Thank you all SO MUCH for your prayers and your never ending support and love that you've given me this past year and a half. I can't believe it's over, but I'm so excited to finally be able to tell you all about it in person. I'll try to do my best, but just remember--my eenglish no es so good. Be patient with me.

I love you all and I'll see you THURSDAY!

Viva la hermana Brewster!!!

love,
Hna. Allison Brewster

The true miracle

Hola mi querida familia,

I know you are all anxiously anticipating the news: Did the family get married and baptized? Well....I hate to let you all down, but...no. We're still waiting for the paperwork to come through. HOWEVER...I want you all to know that your thoughts and prayers haven't been in vain.

I had a knot in my chest all last week, stressing about this marriage and the baptism I want so badly to see before I come home. I kept thinking over and over again, "What am I doing? What am I not doing? What do I need to do to be worthy of this miracle I'm praying for?" I'll admit that at times I felt the Lord was simply chastening me. After all, I'd received several blessings up to this point, so who's to say I deserved this? By the time Wednesday rolled around and we still didn't have the papers, I honestly started to doubt I'd be here to see Francia and her kids get baptized and I was feeling very sorry for myself. We continued to visit Fam. Barria daily and one night, after I had come to grips with the fact that my "miracle" might not occur, we were talking one on one with Hna. Francia about what's she's learned from her personal scripture study and attending church these past few weeks. She opened up her "Gospel Principles" manual and started sharing with us what she had learned about faith--that it was really something that required patience, effort and enduring. She told us that her faith had grown so much over the past couple of months and that she couldn't fathom the idea of missing church even one Sunday. She also said she had hopes that some day all of her children and her husband would be faithful members of the church. She then looked us in the eyes and said, "Hermanas, I know this is the true church." I just sat and stared at her in dumbfounded silence. This was not the same Francia I met a year ago--or even 3 months ago. She'd been changed completely by her personal conversion to the gospel. And that's when it hit me. I could almost hear the voice in my head say, "All this time you've been praying for a miracle. Isn't this what you wanted?" I guess I always thought that seeing her be baptized was what I wanted, but I realize now that it doesn't really matter whether I'm here or not when that happens. She's going to be baptized. She's already converted. So...I leave it all in the hands of the Lord at this point. Really, I think that's the biggest thing this mission has taught me. What I think I want or hope to achieve is nothing compared to what the Lord has planned and is capable of doing. Just the instrument!

I wasn't going to mention the fact that this is my last week, but...we're all pretty aware of that, aren't we? I feel like I'm staring two separate emotions in the face: 1) extreme happiness about seeing you all again and 2) heartache. At any given second, I could go either way.

Thank you so much for all of your prayers, for your love and constant thoughts and words of encouragement. We're not done yet, so keep 'em coming this week! :)

love you all,

Hna. Brewster

Wishin' and hopin' and thinkin' and prayin'

Dear Family,

You know in those movies when someone is disarming a bomb and right when the counter is on "0:01" it stops? I have found that my mission is similar. Stress, stress, stress, stress, RELIEF. This describes pretty well what went down this past week.
As you all well know, the focus object of the final weeks of the mission has been and continues to be: "Get the Familia Barria married and baptized." I mentioned in the last letter that Elias, their 13-year-old son, wanted to be baptized this Sunday, the 24th, because he wanted to have his own special day apart from his mom and sisters. At first I was opposed to that idea until I realized that it might be just what we needed to help his younger sisters and his mom get more excited about the prospect of their own baptism. So when Francia (the mom) consented, we made sure to work really hard with Elias all week long to make sure he was ready for this step. On Friday the elders came to do the interview and Elder Euceda, my district leader, just about gave me a heart attack when he came out of the interview and told me Elias wasn't going to be baptized. Upon seeing the shock on my face, that was followed quickly with, "Just kidding!" and I was able to breathe again. I still have a small desire to punch Elder Euceda, though.
The baptism was scheduled for Sunday morning, so we got up at the crack of dawn to go fill the font as usual, making sure we left plenty of time to go pick up the Fam. Barria before the service started. As luck would have it, their relatives had stopped in by surprise in the middle of the night (gotta love those Panamanians) and Hna.Francia was frantically trying to cook them breakfast when we showed up. I tried to persuade her that seeing her son's baptism was of much greater importance than a few corn tortillas and she agreed. She just needed a few moments to get ready, so we offered to accompany Elias to the chapel so he could get ready while she finished up getting prepared, the idea being that she would be just 5 minutes or so behind us. Well, we got to the church and had everything ready to go, but by 8:15 Francia still hadn't shown up and the bishop was starting to get antsy about the time. I figured we could start out with the hymn and such to stall a little. By the time we finished the hymn and the first speaker was giving his short little talk, Hna. Francia still hadn't shown up. Not thinking I could live with myself if we baptized her son without her there, I was praying she'd get there, meanwhile the bishop was stressing me out with his constant glances at his watch. The time came for the baptism and Juan, our 2nd counselor who was perfoming the baptism, asked where Elias' mom was. I ran outside the chapel to see if by any chance she was close by and much to my everlasting relief, Francia and Michelle, her youngest daughter, were walking up the steps. "0:01" left on the clock.
She shed some tears when Elias was baptized and told us she felt something cool come over her. I know she's ready for her own baptism. We are just praying with all of our might that we somehow get a very kind judge this week who'll consent to do the marriage on Friday in time for a baptism this weekend, as we had originally planned. I don't know why, but I get the feeling that this one's going to come down right to the wire. Sometimes I wonder if the Lord doesn't just find it amusing to watch me fret...
So. There were are. In 2 weeks' time I expect to have some great stories to tell you all in person. In the meantime, keep praying please.

Love you all,
Hna. Brewster

p.s. I used a machete for the first time this week. Just so you all know. Quite proud.

Gettin' married in Panama

Dear Family,

Admit it. The subject line had you curious. "´´ Getting married in Panama´.....is she serious?" Well, I am. But I am not referring to myself. I refer to the fact that the family I mentioned in my last letter, la flia. Barría, is currently in the process of getting married so that we can go through with Hna. Francia's baptism this month. Yes, that's right. SHE HAS A BAPTISMAL DATE! She's been coming to church and yesterday she brought her son Elias with her, so we are definitely shooting for a July baptism. It was originally for the 24th but I think it'll end up being the 31st because getting people married is a pain in Panama. A PAIN. We made a run to the courthouse this morning to figure out exactly what we need to put together to get this marriage finalized ASAP. I have already made up my mind that I will not leave Panama until Hna. Francia is confirmed a member of the church. It's my dying wish, really. So please, if you could, include her and her family in your prayers. Really, for me this would be the miracle I've been looking for my whole mission long.

Just one month left and far from being trunky I am working twice as hard as I ever worked before. I think I'll be crawling off that plane because I plan to have nothing left at the end of all of this. My ¨hija¨ Hna. Rodriguez is learning fast and I'm doing my best to help her learn to enjoy the mission and work hard. It's kind of funny being at this point and be able to see the two different perspectives: the newbie and the oldie. When I think about all that's ahead of her it just makes me smile, really. She's in for a while ride but it's going to be the time of her life.

Last night we had a somewhat frustrating lesson with Jeannette's dad (the girl who got baptized two weeks ago). He's a very learned man who knows the Bible in and out, so you can imagine it wasn't easy trying to get him to accept that God had MORE to say. I've dealt with doubtful, combative people my whole mission long and yet I still fail to comprehend why people don't want to accept the gospel. It's almost like they try to disprove it. For me, I like the fact that there are so many promises for blessings beyond our wildest dreams and I choose to believe in it because it makes me happier and makes life more fulfilling. But...agency. There's that word again. Cursed double edged sword...

Anywho, I won't have much of a nose left by the end of all of this since I'm sticking it to that grindstone and all, but I will have some good things to tell you all. I'm sure of it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BEN, RYAN AND ANNIE THIS WEEK! (and the rest of the family, pretty much...)

love you,
Hna. Brewster

Someone Outta Open Up the Window!

Hey Fam,

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY! I am almost American again, so maybe we'll hold a late celebration when I get back. I am wearing a red shirt today and I listened to MoTab's "God Bless America" this morning, so that's about as patriotic as I can be here in my dear Panama... Hope you're all enjoying the festivities--not to mention the freedoms.

So! Big news. I am now the proud parent of Hna. Rodriguez from Guatemala. That's right--I have another greenie! Looks like they don't want me to die in peace on the mission, and let me tell you that I definitely will not. We are working harder than I have worked my whole mission long. My comp is a sweetheart but a tad on the shy side, so the goal right now is to help her get used to the mission and feel comfortable enough to come out of her shell. It's poetic, really--I started my mission as a greenie in this area and now I'm ending it as a trainer in the same area. It's definitely given me the opporunity to chart my progress and growth as a missionary. I try to assure Hna. Rodriguez that it does get easier with time--and a whoooooooole lot of practice. Heck, let´s face it, I'm still learning.

I think the most exciting news I have to tell you all is that one of our investigators, Hna. Francia, whom I have taught since the first time I was in this area CAME TO CHURCH yesterday. Not only that, she showed up in a dress, stayed for all three hours AND at the end of Relief Society she asked me to help her pay tithing. I was in absolute shock. You just never know when the Lord's going to surprise you with those curveball blessings. I haven't told you all how much we've prayed and fasted for Francia's family, but suffice it to say it's been quite a long road. As President Monson would say, "Tears were shed. Hugs were given." We just need to make sure her marriage gets legalized pronto so that I can see her get baptized before I leave. Please, please, please pray for her. It's a funny thing...I find that answers to my prayers seem to have a slight delay but they do eventually arrive. Just like the letters from friends I occasionally get in the mail :).

Anyway, we're putting the narices to the grindstone. i hope to have some great news for you next week as well.

love you all and Happy 4th! And happy birthday Hilary, too!

love,
Hna. Brewster

And the people all said sit down, sit down you're rockin' the boat

Dear Family,

Welp, today makes 17 months for me in the mission. WOW. The other day someone asked me how much time I had left. Without thinking about it, I responded, "7 weeks." Then my jaw dropped open. 7 WEEKS??? I was in a moment of brief shock after that. Actually, I think I'm still there. I didn't sleep too well last night. There´s just way too much to think about these days.

Don't worry, though. I am staying focused and working my tail off. We have some great investigators (most of which are references from ward members, which is amazing) whom we´re working with that I feel confident will be baptized in July. It's going to be quite a wild ride to the finish line. We're already in the last week of the transfer which means that next week I´ll be receiving my final companion of the mission. The ZL´s called me last night to ask if I wanted to train again...I told them that if the Lord wants that, I'll do it. But I'm not going to ask for it. It would definitely keep me on my toes, though, so it might be good. We'll see what happens! I'll miss Hna. Ubeda, though. She's super chill and unfailingly positive. If I'm walking around in a brooding mood because of a bad day with fallen appointments and lots of rain, she's right next to me whistling and saying, "I just feel so happy today and I don't know why!" She's a funny kid.

We went with the Elders to teach two young gals who're getting baptized this week in their area. Their names are Yashaika (14) and Carolina (17). Carolina is a single mom. The Elders wanted us to talk to them about modesty because we're sisters and they felt weird about doing it. Well I felt pretty weird too when we were trying to teach her while she breastfed her baby in front of us and the elders. I know it's a part of the culture here but it still is on my "not okay" list. Don't think that's something from Panama I'll adopt. An awkward situation to say the least.

So...that's all I've got for now. Hope you all have a fantastic week and that Hilary and the kids are feeling better!

love you all,

Hna. Brewster

Stick it, Satan

Hello my dear family,

I am currently sitting in a freezing internet cafe absolutely drenched in sweat. Why? This morning my district decided to climb the local mountain, "Cerro Cabra" (or "Goat Hill"). It was a steep climb but I'm happy to say that we did it successfully and I didn't fall down once. An amazing feat considering all of the mud in the way, I might say. We have fun on P-days. I'll miss this.

So this was a pretty good week that almost ended tragically, but in the end we triumphed. Maritza, whom I told you all was going to be baptized this weekend, very nearly missed her opportunity. First of all, she almost missed her interview with our district leader due to a doctor's appointment that kept her 6 HOURS overtime in the city and then yesterday the baptism itself almost fell through when we got to the church and realized the ward mission leader hadn't filled up the font. It was one of those "this can't be happening" missionary moments. We got to the chapel at 7:30 and the baptism was supposed to start at 8. Supposedly the font takes 2 hours to fill up, so you can all do that math. Not really caring about the odds, I cranked up the water and prayed it would miraculously be full in 30 minutes. The members were starting to arrive and when they saw that the font wasn't full, they looked at us like, "Oh, you're in trouble..." One nice sister said, "Don't worry, hermana. It'll be full." I just nodded and continued to stare at the font, willing the water to flow faster as if by mind powers I could accomplish such a task. We had to go pick up Maritza and the whole time we were gone, my constant inner prayer was, "Please let it be full, please let it be full." I guess the Lord heard my frantic pleas because we got back to the chapel and the water was near the top. Maritza never even knew how close she came to losing her baptism that day. The sister who'd given me the encouraging words before smiled and said, "See, hermana? I told you it would fill up--and it did it in 30 minutes!" I'm happy to say that Maritza is now baptized and confirmed and couldn't be more happy. So take THAT, Satan.

The funny thing about all of this is that as I was sitting in the baptismal service for her, I felt strangely removed from the situation. We'd found her and taught her, yes, but now the ward was taking over and our job was done. And I didn't really feel like we did much at all, to be honest. It was obvious that the Lord had been preparing her for a long time and we just had the luck of finding her. She's such a sweetheart, too. I told her that I'm going home soon and she said, "Well you tell your parents when you write to them that here you have a mom who loves you very much!" So mom and dad, don't worry about me. But don't worry about me replacing you either, because that's not possible.

I love you all very much and hope you have a great week!

love,

Hna. Brewster

Happy Monday

Dear Family,

Happy June! I trust the snow has melted and the kids are all enjoying a nice break for the summer...what a crazy thought. As you all know, I live in a perpetual summer, so it's hard for me to grasp the concept of summer back home. Actually, this week has been rather nice. We had a good breeze most of the week, making the days very pleasant. Oh dear, I'm talking about the weather...sorry, I guess I don't have anything big to report.

This week we're hoping to have the baptism of Hna. Maritza, a sweet old sister we found my second day here, so that's some good news for you. Other good news: Kashma, Jean the 6-year-old's mom, came to church yesterday with her two little boys and stayed the WHOLE time. That's pretty big. I think when she realized that other women would be taking care of her kids for 2 hours, that was incentive. Anywho, we were excited that they came.

We've got a multizone p'day today in the city and president is paying for us to go biking and eat sandwiches, so I'm excited for that. I'll let you know how it goes.

Hope everyone's doing great and having fun. Thanks for the prayers and thoughts.

love,
Hna. Brewster

It's like living with a 6 year old

Happy Memorial Day, my dear family!

Or is that "Merry Christmas"? According to Mom, the snow fell in good ol' Utah today, so I don't know if you're all really in May or not--and practically June pretty soon here. Am I going to come home to one giant puddle in the basement? I worry about flooding. I really do. Well Merry Christmas, just the same :).

So you all know that I was sent back to my hometown of the mission and that it surprised me quite a bit, but I'm happy to say that I am loving it. I honestly feel like it's given me a preview of what going home for real will feel like because being back with my old ward members and families has made me feel very much at home. They're all fantastic and I don't think there's a better place for me to finish my mission. We also were able to set 3 different baptismal dates this last week, so we're working hard on "the harvest." I don't feel like I can take any credit at all for the good fortune we've had because it's really just the Lord's work and I'm in the middle of it. But I do love Arraijan! (that's my area, not a person.)

So a couple of days ago we were having a bit of a slow day and the morale wasn't up very high. We were going to go teach with a member in our ward and so that evening we waited for them in a park in front of the church. I felt tired, a little grumpy and not really in the mood to do anything, to be honest. It had been a long, unfruitful day. While we were sitting there, a little boy who was hanging around on the monkey bars caught our attention and started showing off for us. We applauded him for his acrobatic abilities and he came over to talk to us. He told us his name was "Jean" (as in Jean Valjean), he was 6-years-old and he lived right across the street (which explained why his mother wasn't around). We had a kick talking to him. I asked him how old he thought I was and he said, "like 25,000." I told him that was pretty close. For a 6-year-old he talked extremely well and he became our instant friend by making us laugh with his funny little kid witticisms. He saw our tags and asked what we did.
me: We teach people the gospel of Jesus Christ
Jean: huh?
Me: We go around talking to people about Jesus
Jean: Oh. Well, you can come talk to my mom about Jesus while she does her hair!

And then he proceeded to yank at our hands, insisting that we come over to his house immediately. His mom was a little embarrassed but she's a sweet young gal and could possibly be genuinely interested in the gospel...we have yet to see.

Anyway, I'm thankful that a 6'year'old reminded me how to be friendly, happy and fun with people I don't even know. I miss being a kid sometimes.

love you all! gotta go or the computer will kick me off...

Hna. Brewster

Making mission history

Hello everyone,

Well. Blow me down and tie me to a tree. You will never ever guess where I am right now. We had transfers last Wednesday and I was completely floored when I found out that I was returning to none other than my ¨home town¨ of the mission: Arraijan, la Dos Mil. That's right. I am finishing my mission in the exact same place where I started. I thought at first that there had been some mistake and they'd forgotten that I'd already been in this area, but the assistants told me it was something President´s had planned for a while and that he thought it was what I always wanted. Many people repeat zones but I have never heard of anyone ever repeating the same exact area. I was in a complete state of shock for the first 48 hours and felt like I was being asked to go back to high school and repeat some old classes. Basically, I didn't understand what I was doing here again and I didn't have the best attitude about it. Yes, I love the area and yes I love the people very much, but I always imagined that the next time I came back, I'd be with my husband or something. My companion, Hna. Ubeda, is from Guatemala and she's a sweetheart. Very soft spoken and easy to get along with. I'm grateful to have her. The members I think were more shocked than I was to see me back here ("Again??"). But they all gave me hugs and were happy to see me again, insisting that if the Lord sent me back here, it must be because there's something I left unfinished. I certainly hope they´re right. It feels as if all eyes are one me waiting to see the great miracle that comes out of the "prodigal gringa." I'm praying pretty hard these days and I'm determined to do everything I have to to ensure that I make the most of my time here. The good news is that we've already seen some great blessings in a short amount of time. A couple of days ago we tracted into a sweet lady named Maritza whom we taught and brought to church yesterday. Last night we actually set a baptismal date with her, so please pray that she continues to grow and progress in her knowledge of the gospel so that all will go well by June 11th!

It's taken some getting used to, but I really am happy to be here in my old ward. The people here are amazing and I can't imagine a better area to finish my mission. The only problem is that I'm sure it's going to be pretty hard to leave when the time comes. But I've still got a ways to go, luckily :).

Love you all and hope you're doing great. Happy late birthday to Ella!

love,

Hna. Brewster

Ugly good-byes

Dear Family,

Well here we are at the end of another transfer and my time in Santiago is coming to a close. I'd like to think of Santiago as my ¨refining zone¨ of the mission because I think this is where I learned the hardest lessons. Still though, I really do love this place and now that it's coming down to the wire, I'm not sure if I really want to leave.
My last week here went out with a bang--and I mean that in a literal sense because since Thursday and onward the sky´s ripped open and the Panama rain is coming back with full force, thunder, lightning and all. I think I'd forgotten how hard it rains here but I was quickly reminded after we got absolutely drenched a couple days ago and had to come home midday to change and warm up a tad with some hot chocolate before facing the storm again (I know--being cold in Panama is weird). The bad news is that apparently getting wet DOES make you sick as they say, because this weekend I landed myself in bed with a sore throat, pounding head and nauseated stomach. Bleh. The worst part was that I wasn't able to get up to go to my last sacrament meeting in Santiago, which meant I wouldn't be seeing most of the members to tell them good-bye. I was sad about that, but in a way relieved--good byes are not my forte. Sometimes it's easier just to rip that band-aid off. However...the members gave me quite a shock when right after church on Sunday a whole crowd of them came over to see me and say good'bye. The unfortunate thing is that I had just woken up and they beheld me in all my puffy, sick-faced glory, which is probably the last image they´ll have of Hna. Brewster, but it was a sweet gesture. The tears came gushing out unexpectedly as I gave my final hugs to some of the good people I've come to know and love here these last 4 months. I think being sick just made me extra emotional. I also found out that one of the investigators we just started teaching came to church along with a few others, so it looks like Hna. Aguero might be here to witness a baptism after all. Whether I´m here to see it or not, it doesn't really matter. I´m just happy that we did our best to help the people here in whatever way we could. I´ll miss Santiago.
So...12 more weeks in a new area and I have a feeling it'll go by too fast. But there's plenty of time for a few more joys and heartaches
I'll let you all know next week where I'm at, unless they grant my wish and send me to the San Blas Islands where there is no internet...

Love you all,
Hna. Brewster

I know I just talked to you but...

Oh, my dear family,

It was so great to SEE you all and talk to you last night! Everyone looks great and seems happy, so I'm grateful for that. It's funny--when we got done talking, I was chatting with the Robisons and Hna. Aguero about how I expected calling home to make me trunky, but it actually made me realize that everything's still in place and there are great things to look forward to when we're back all together, but this is the only time I'll ever have as a missionary in Panama. So, far from making me trunky, it actually made me a tad nostalgic for the mission. 3 months really is nothing at all and I'm going to miss being here. Nothing has ever been so crazy, so difficult or so thoroughly entertaining as the mission. Most of all, I'm just very grateful for the opportunity I've had to grow in my testimony of the Savior. I know I told Mom, Dad, Angie and Caden about this last night, but for those of you who didn't hear, this is an experience we had this weekend (taken from my letter to the president this week):

Want some good news? Turns out we really are doing some good in Santiago after all. This weekend we went to go help out a couple in the ward that´s been having some marital problems. Everyone in the ward kept telling us, ¨"you need to go visit them! You need to visit them!" which we always do, of course, but everyone seems to have this idea that missionaries have the power to fix everything. I honestly didn't have a clue what we were going to tell this young couple (not being married myself and therefore not an authority on the subject) and when we got there they just started yelling and fighting right in front of us, going back and forth about all of the wrong things that the other had done. I finally had to stand up and tell them that we had to leave because there was nothing we could do to help them if they just wanted to sit there and fight. We were embarrassed to see them act like this since both of them knew better. I asked them to think about what Christ would think if he were here listening to them treat each other this way and that if they truly believed in the gospel, they would forgive each other and fix the things that they were doing wrong individually. There was a long moment of silence. At least the fighting stopped. The next day at church they were both quiet and left right after sacrament meeting. The miracle is that when we went to visit them at night time, they were both smiling and acting very pleasant with each other. They told us that we and many of the ward members had helped them to change their attitudes and they'd decided to forgive each other. Then the wife said something I won't forget very soon: "When Hna. Brewster stood up and reprimanded us, I felt like Jesus Christ himself was in the room and I felt so ashamed."
We always tell people we're "representatives of Jesus Christ" but sometimes I don't think we fully understand the magnitude of that statement. We actually DO have the authority to act in His name and say what He would say. It's a humbling thought and definitely makes me grateful to have this opportunity to be a missionary and be that much closer to the Savior.
It's hard but I love it.

Sometimes, if not a majority of the time, it's difficult to feel like we´re really making any difference here in the mission but it's experiences like this that reinforce my faith in what we're doing here. I may not be the best missionary, but I know I'm doing the best I can.

I love you all very much and am grateful for each one of you. Have a fantastic week!

love,
Hna. Brewster

I wouldn't want to be Osama bin Laden right about now

Dear Family,

Happy Birthday to Katie and happy death day of bin Laden! Many reasons to rejoice, eh? I haven-t yet seen the reaction of Panamanians to the news but I'm pretty sure there's worldwide happiness. It-s good to hear that Satan is one man down. May's starting out to be a pretty good month!

So I don't have much to report today...these week was busy. Another zone conference in Chorrera...I got to see Hna. Graham and a bunch of old friends. That was fun.

Yesterday I lost my voice and sounded like a Spanish donkey in all of our lessons. Funny thing is that in zone conference they stressed the need to talk less and listen more. Perhaps I was just forced to put that into practice. I'm confident, however, that my voice will be back in time for Sunday when I get to call home for Mother's Day! (Woo hoo!) And if it's not, I'll be able to sign to you because we get to use Skype again. I feel like I just talked to you all, but I guess that was 5 months ago....weird. Anywho, it'll be somewhere between 7 and 8 MDT, in case those of you who don't live at home want to call around that time.... If not, I'll be seeing you in about 3 months, so no biggie.

In the meantime, we are doing what we can to leave the Santiago branch stronger than we found it. I have a feeling that I've only got about 2 weeks left here, so I'm hoping I can do whatever little good I can before I go. We organized a leadership training day this weekend for all of the auxiliaries and talked to them about organization, delegation and cooperation. I think the Lord sent me to Panama to teach me just how important visiting teaching really is. So many problems could be fixed if we all just took care of each other...

Well, I'm looking forward to talking to you this Sunday! Happy Mother's Day to all.

love,
Hna. Brewster

Marriage Counseling

Happy Easter plus one!

This was the week when all the Catholics come out, so we had many fun experiences trying to teach about the Restoration. People are very nice (for the most part) but not too receptive to the idea of a living prophet. Or maybe they just don't want to wake up on Sundays at 9 am. That could be the reason.

Anywho, I've decided that my attitude about Santiago needs to change a bit. This past week I realized that what I want (which is to find and baptize a family or at least one person here before I leave) is secondary to the plans of the Lord, and I have a strong feeling that the greatest need right now is helping to strengthen and fortify the branch. President Ward's hinted that that's what he'd like us to do, but I've been stubborn and shoving that thought off to the side, thinking, "We'll show him! We can have baptisms here in Santiago even if it is the Catholic capital of Panama!" I think I finally realized that even though we still work hard to preach the gospel to everyone here, I need to focus on the needs of the area as well.

One of those needs is to strengthen the young families that are here. We have a branch with a bunch of young, recent convert couples and many (if not all) of them have a few marital issues that they're trying to work out before they can prepare themselves to go to the temple. Yesterday we decided to take Elder Robison (the senior missionary) with us to one of these couples' houses to give them some help after they had a big fight before church. Basically, we sat in the middle and translated while Elder Robison gave them some pointers on how they could strengthen their marriage and overcome some of their problems. Whenever the husband or wife would mention something that the other did that bothered them, Elder Robison would just chuckle and say, "Yep. Been there." I think in the end it was nice for them to realize that everyone's got problems and sometimes you just need to laugh about the differences. Hna. Aguero and I, not being married ourselves, didn't have too much knowledge to impart, but we did suggest that they settle arguments with paper-rock-scissors...and a little gospel on the side. I didn't think marriage counseling would be part of my job description as a missionary, but you never know exactly what people are going to need you for. Why do I get the feeling that someday all of these things are going to be echoing in my head?

Oh yeah, just one more thing: last night we tracted into a Hindu family. That was probably my favorite thing to happen this past week. The dad and son were the only ones who spoke Spanish, so we taught a very, very simplified version of the first lesson, using pictures and many hand gestures. I felt odd teaching about God while I was looking at pictures of Shiva and Vishnu on the wall, but it was fun. They were nice. I wonder how Scott did that for 2 years...

I love missionary work. It's a crazy little box of chocolates.

Love you all and have a great week!

Hna. Brewster

Any dream will do

Hi fam,

Sorry for the delay on the long anticipated weekly letter (I know you must have all been very disappointed). Our district meeting was rescheduled for Tuesday.
Anyway, what have i got to tell you all this week?....The truth is that this week was quite entertaining in that we managed to tract into several special individuals (i.e. apparently all of the crazy people live in the other sisters' side of the area in which we now work). Let me illustrate:

We contacted an oldish man in front of his house and he kindly invited us in to talk about the gospel. He told us he had had a dream the night before that a tall white gringa and a small "moreñita" (google it) came to teach him at his house. This really isn't all that rare as most Panamanians claim to have dreams that predict the future. We just went with it and sat down on his porch. We asked him if he'd like to listen to us sing a hymn and he said no--that those types of things only really sounded good when there were a bunch of people singing. He also added that he had heard that gringos didn't sing very well in Spanish and that he didn't want us to scare his dog. I was completely amused by this but Hna. Aguero was apparently offended in my behalf because she whipped out her hymn book and said, "Well, hermano, we're going to prove that that's not the case." She then looked at me expectantly as if to say, "Give it your best on this one" and we sang "Te damos Señor nuestras gracias". It was the only time I've sung in front of Panamanians and felt pressure to sound really good. I think I added a little bit of vibrato to some parts just for emphasis. At the end, our investigator nodded his head and said, "well now that was too beautiful for just me to listen to."
In the end, he didn't want to accept what we taught, but at least we convinced him that we could sing. Perhaps some day he will remember that.

On the topic of singing, I was overjoyed by the opportunity to practice with the branch choir this weekend as I got to sing alto for the first time in ages. We ended up singing in sacrament meeting and i have to say, it sounded nice.
I've thought a lot about the ironies of my mission: the little girl who never liked to sing in front of people or even eat fried eggs because she was terrified of cholesterol now lives to sing in front of complete strangers all the time and eats about the most greasy, unhealthy food you could imagine. And did I mention that I've lived with vermin? So I don't want anymore of you giving me the "is this water sanitary?" line any more, got it? :)

The point: I am so thankful for this mission. It hasn't been everything I'd expected but it's been a lot more than what I imagined. And yes, the church is still true.

love you all and happy Easter!

love,
Hna. Brewster

Congratulations, it's a PROVINCE

Hellooooo my dear family!

I sit here in slight shock today for several reasons:
1. I just received in my email a copy of my travel itinerary, informing me that I am in fact going back home in a short 4 MONTHS. Remember when I got my mission call and had to wait 4 months to leave? Yeah. This will go by twice as fast. I'm freaking out a tad.
2. I mentioned to you all that transfers were last week. Well thankfully they granted my wish and kept me here in Santiago with Hna. Aguero, but it came as quite a shock when they took out the other two sisters from Santiago (without informing us beforehand) leaving the entire province to just the two of us. We are now in charge of the entire salvation of Veraguas---like Davis County. It's been quite the experience trying to figure out exactly who lives where according the sisters' area book meanwhile juggling the people we were already teaching in our area. It's making us really analyze our investigators to try to figure out if it's worth devoting so much time to a few of them whom we know may never accept the gospel. (Sounds harsh, I know.)

So that's where we are for now. I have a mere 5 weeks left here in Santiago to do as much good as I can. We have a couple of people who I know have made some great progress (including Princesa Leon--have I mentioned her before?) and we're doing our best to be "bold but not overbearing" about testifying of the truth. I think I initially spoke pretty softly about my beliefs and what I wanted for these people I'm teaching, but I don't know...something about only have 4 months left makes it feel like there's a timer beeping in my head and I've got to save as many people as I can while I have the chance ("DO YOU WANT SALVATION OR NOT? LET'S GET TO THE POINT HERE!"). It's not really that dramatic...but it definitely feels urgent.

Just a quick funny story for you: We were contacting houses last night and we met a man who was unmistakably gringo. His skin was flaming white and he had an Alaska shirt on. Trying to be conversational, I asked, "Oh, are you from Alaska?" To which he replied "no," as if it was a stupid question. I don't remember where he said he was most recently from, but I said, "That's great! I'm actually from Utah." He looked me up and down and said, "Oh, I KNOW you're from Utah...." Smiling, I continued, "So...you've spoken with missionaries before, I take it?" His reply: "Yes. And I think it only fair to tell you that I'm Christian and don't believe in the church of latter day saints." There was just so much irony in that sentence that I couldn't contain a smile. "All right! Thank you for your time, sir," was all I said and we left. As soon as we rounded the corner I just laughed. There was a time when I would've felt angry or offended by something like that, but I've learned to just enjoy moments like that and think to myself, "Someday we'll replay this conversation and you can tell me what you think."

H.A. and I have talked a lot about how our testimonies really are the only things we have that people can't claim to be mistaken. We can teach them the doctrine and they can choose to reject it, but they can't tell us that we don't feel the truth of these things in our hearts. That's why it's our most powerful tool and that's why itneeds constant sharpening.

I hope you're all enjoying the snow and know that I love you. Have a great week!

love,
Hna. Brewster

No, we will not die like dogs, we will fight like lions!

Happy April, family!

I sincerely hope you all enjoyed Conference as much as I did this weekend. We ended up getting to watch it in the Robisons´apartment, so we didn't have to go far. I loved how the broadcast on Saturday showed a nice green springly Utah and then Sunday was SNOWY. Man, I miss the craziness of Utah weather sometimes. But I think I might die in snow. Heck, I'm going to die in air conditioned rooms, let's be honest.

Anywho, I don't know if I could pick a favorite talk from Conference but I like the rest of you definitely feel the need to start contributing to the welfare program...I was feeling pretty guilty about that until I remembered, "Oh right, I'm here saving souls." I think that's a good alternative for now... I also was touched by Elder Scott's talk about his wife though it scared me a little when he told all the young men to "stop wasting time in trivial pursuits" and go get married already. Hey, Elder Scott, MY husband has to wait a little longer...give me some time. Basically, I'm hoping there will still be good single men when I get home :) Save one for me!

This week was just lovely. We had to travel to Panama for training and I had to stay the night in the mission home because of a doctor's appointment I had the next day (don't worry--I'm fine. Eye stuff.) Since we had nothing better to do, President gave us permission to go to the evening session of the temple and for the first time ever, I had the opportunity to be one of the last people in the Celestial Room at the end of the day. Coming out of the temple at night time was probably the most beautiful thing I've seen in Panama thusfar. Hands down my favorite place here.

A young boy got baptized in our branch this weekend and the missionaries basically ran the show. The four of us hermanas sang together and--brace yourself for this, Mom--I played the piano for the hymns everyone sang. Granted they were the hymns made easy, but nevertheless I did it and felt quite proud of myself :) Thank you.
As transfers are in just a couple of days, our zone had a meeting this morning where the Elders all put together a special program for Hna. Ramirez who's going home. Seeing as she's Mexican (but she grew up in Utah) they wrote her a Mariachi medley, but on fake mustaches and three amigos type attire and made her a piñata in her likeness. I recorded the whole thing, don't worry. I was very impressed.
And that is basically all I have to report for now... We're still plugging along and doing what we can to spread some joy around here. Keepin' busy.
Love you all, love the letters and thanks for the prayers.

love,
Hna. Brewster

Ai, yi, yi, yi...canta y no llores

Hello my dear family,

Happy Late: Valentine's Day (finally got all the cards and letters from friends and fam. You are all amazing, thank you!), St. Patrick's Day and Mom's Birthday! It was quite the celebratory week.

I learned a pretty big lesson this week: people never cease to surprise you. We made a decision to focus on finding new investigators to teach because for the past few weeks, all of the people whom we've visited and taught repeatedly with all our heart and soul simply have not made any steps toward progression. It's been a bit of a rough road and it wasn't easy letting these people go after investing so much in helping them better their lives, but in the end we know we need to focus on finding those who truly want to accept the gospel and not just listen to a nice story about Jesus.

We were working in an area called Punta Delgadita throughout this whole week and I have to admit that after several letdowns, I was starting to get a bit discouraged. If there really are people who are being prepared to receive us, where the heck are they?? On Wednesday we tracted into two young sisters, Joanna and Magdieth. We knocked on their door and they invited us in to share with them a bit about our message. Joanna was busy dyeing Magdieth´s hair at the time but she seemed pretty interested in what we had to say. Magdieth sort of stared off into space, so I didn't think we were making any impact on her. We left them a pamphelet and made an appointment to come back the next day to teach them more thoroughly about the restoration and Joanna very happily accepted. The next day happened to be a long, unfruitful one contacting in the streets and when we got to their house, we found Magdieth alone with her little baby boy (Magdieth is a 17'year old single mother) and she told us that Joanna was sick with a headache. Figuring that this young little teenage mom who paid no attention whatsoever the first time couldn't possibly want to listen to us, I quickly asked her if we could come back the next day when Joanna was feeling better. As I started to write the appointment down in my agenda, Magdieth said, "I read your little booklet you left."
me: "You...what?"
Magdieth: "Yeah. And I answered the questions, too."
I didn't know what she was talking about until she pulled out the pamphlet we left and a notebook that answered all the questions that were written in the "additional study" page on the back. Not only had she read it, she'd done the homework--and we didn't even ask her to (which is a bad missionary move). She'd understood it perfectly and was eager to learn more about prophets, joseph smith and the book of mormon. I think I really went into shock for a minute there. We met her pierced, black'haired boyfriend the next day and once again I thought, "Nope. He doesn't want anything." Wrong again. At the end of the lesson (a very good one, I might add) he told us he wanted to read the entire book of mormon--in a week. I don't know if I really believe it yet, but we'll see in the next email I send you all what comes of this...
The point: People surprise you!

Hope you all have a lovely week.

love you!
Hna. Brewster

Going Home

Hello my dear family,

first off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DAD! May the day be full of phone calls from your children who (cough) aren't many miles away and not allowed to use a phone. Enjoy the Backer's cake!
Secondly, I hope Ben's doing all right. I'll definitely be praying for that poor soul who ripped 100 bucks off of him...he'll get what's coming. No worries. I hope you all stay safe and healthy while I'm away. Hold out for 5 more months at least. Please!

Right now I'm experiencing a bit of deja vous because i'm writing to you all from my first area of the mission: Arraijan. As I mentioned in the last letter, they had to take us out of our zone because of the carnival celebrations that are going on in the middle of the country, so that means I've been blessed with an opportunity few missionaries ever get to experience--a chance to go back to where it all began. It's been quite the nostalgic weekend for me and it all started on Thursday night when we got here and dropped our stuff off at my old house. I saw this flashback to a younger, more naive and much whiter Hermana Brewster walking through that door completely stunned at her new life for the next 17 months. I'm so grateful for the things I've learned since then. And I still can't believe it's been a year since I've been here. In these past few days I've been able to reconnect with a lot of the first people I met here in Panama, including many dear friends. it's been unreal.

Our first stop was the chino (a little store) that's on the corner by our house. I had made friends with Luis, the Chinese boy who works their with his family, back when I was here but I didn't know if he'd recognize me. When we walked in the store I smiled at him and said, ¨Do you remember me?'' His face lit up, he smiled and said, ''Hi, Hermana Brewster.'' I talked to him for a few minutes, asking how the past year had gone for him, all the while thinking to myself how funny it was that an American girl and a Chinese boy where standing here having this conversation in Spanish... it was funny to me. I was so happy Luis remembered who I was.

Probably the neatest thing though was when we went to go visit some old investigators I had here, la familia Barria. Ever since they took me out of Arraijain, I've wondered about this little family. They came to church with us once but the missionaries after me stopped teaching them because they didn't progress. We walked by the street where I knew they lived but I didn't see the bright orange house I was familiar with. Instead, there was a pink one in its place. It's customary in Panama to paint houses during the year, so I figured it was the same one but I wasn't entirely sure...until I heard a voice call out from inside, ''It's Hermana Brewster!'' and out came Elias, the little boy I met a year ago, only now he's not so little. His family came out to and they all gave me a hug. I was so touched that they remembered who I was despite the fact that I had only really known them a short time and that was way back when my Spanish was extremely limited. We made an appointment to go back and visit them this week before we leave.

Yesterday being fast sunday, I was able to get up in my old ward and bear my testimony to all of the old ward members and friends I have here. I told them that for me, this was like a preview of the Celestial Kingdom when we'll all be able to meet up again. I felt like I was back at home and on more than one occasion the tears threatened to come gushing out. But I controlled it well, I'm proud to say. I'm just so grateful for this rare opportunity to come back for a bit to my ''home'' in Panama. Just knowing that people remember me here made me feel like my entire time's been worth it.

But Im excited to get back to work in Santiago. Miss them too.

Time's up. love you all! Talk to you next week.

love,
HnaBrewster

My firstborn in the wilderness

Well, everyone, I have some big news: I have a daughter! I´m training my first ¨greenie¨, Hna. Aguero from Costa Rica, and let me just tell you all that I couldn't have been more lucky. She is an absolute doll and I´m not sure who´s training who because I feel like she's helping me remember all the good reasons for which I chose to be a missionary in the first place. And it doesn't hurt a bit that she also happens to be a huge country music fan and shares my affinity for Tim McGraw. This was designed in the heavens. I just know it. She speaks fluent English so we're practicing both languages. I've already got some good stories about this which I'm saving along with many others. I'm convinced that the time's going by so rapidly now that I'll be home in the ¨twinkling of an eye¨ and soon you'll all hear about these crazy adventures.

I think you all were aware of how hard the last transfer was but I've learned that I should never complain about unfavorable circumstances because you never know what the Lord has in store. And you don't receive a witness until after the trial of your faith, if I remember correctly. (Moroni was a smart man.)
I'm not naive enough to think that things are and will remain perfect, but I'm certainly grateful for this shower of blessings to remind me to stick it out through the hard times.

In other news, President is taking everyone out of our zone for the next week because los carnavales (a summer celebration) are about to begin, which means there will be crazy people in the streets trying to soak us with water...and other things. SO, we are being relocated for 1 week and you wouldn't believe where they're sending me: ARRAIJAN, LA DOS MIL--for those of you who don't remember (I'm thinking that's pretty much everyone) that was my very first area of the mission. It's been a dream of mine to go back there since I never got to say good bye to the members and I can't believe that a year later, after being trained there, I'll be DOING the training and revisiting all the people I met back when I had a rather limited Spanish vocabulary. I can finally take pictures, visit old investigators and families and talk to all those who didn't understand my gringo jibberish in my mission youth. I'm so excited :).

We have had some neat experiences this week as far as finding new people to teach goes. Next week, if and when I have the time, I'll tell you about the family I met when we robbed a green mango from their tree. Suffice it to say the Lord works in mysterious ways...

Hope you know how much I love you all and how grateful I am for each of you. Keep being good and we'll talk to you in MARCH.
love,
Hna. Brewster

Could it be, yes it could...somethin's coming', somethin' good

Hi everyone,

Well today is the day of the frustrating keyboard,so ifyou see a few words gluedtogether, don't blameme!

anywho...This past week flew by. Hna. Aguero and I worked like maniacs tracting a new part of our area, tryingto find some promising people to teach. The theme of the week hasbeen "thanks,but no thanks." For whatever reason, this areais just extremely difficult to soften up. I still think we can get a few bites,though. We're working on it.

I don't like mentioning names in my email each week because it's proven to be a curse. So without mentioningnames,let me just say that we have an appointmentwith X tonight and we'retaking one of our recent converts so that she can't throw the whole "You've beenamemberyour whole life,so it's easy for you" bit at us. I pray that things go well but I'lllet you know next week.

In themeantime, President Ward has asked us to help build up our little branchhere. The four ofus sistermissionaries helped out with a primary activity this weekend and it was quite a kick. The president,Hna. Salinas, is very musically talented and is a recent convert of about 8 months. This showed when she taught the kids a new version of "head,shoulders,knees andtoes":

"Head, shoulders, knees and toes
Knees and toes
Knees and toes
Head, shoulders, knees and toes

Let's all praise Je-sus!"

Hallelujah! I also enjoyed it when, after along lesson about followingthe prophet, one of the granddaughters of a different recent convert jumped up and said, "What'sthe pope's name?"

So we're working on it. Little by little, good things shall come to pass. There's at least always something to smile about.

I'm ridiculously excited for Conference this weekend and hope you all are too. It's like missionary Christmas.

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

love,
Hna. Brewster

Happy President's Day!

(all right, all right, I am a bit behind...but my laptop broke--so what can I do?)

Happy President's Day!

I want to let you all know how truly spoiled I am. Last week was probably one of the hardest weeks I've had in the mission and I was struggling to see the "glass half full." I guess the Lord must have been sick of my whining or otherwise I'm just a spoiled daughter because President Ward gave permission to Hna. Brenes and I to travel to Panama at 3 am in the morning on Friday to attend the sealing of a young couple in our ward. We'd been preparing Karen, the young bride, for the temple and it was going to be the first sealing the Santiago branch has seen in YEARS, so it was quite a deal. Karen's mom told us she was going to call President to get permission for us to come because she said we deserved to be there after all the help we gave her. Personally, I didn't think it was worth wasting her time in asking because I figured there was absolutely no way we'd receive permission to go. Missionaries usually only get to go to the temple if a family they taught is getting sealed, not if ward members are getting sealed. Well, I guess this was something we really needed because President Ward told Karen's mom that we had permission to go. I couldn't believe it. All day Friday I felt like I was just in a dream. We traveled 4 hours to get there, spent all day at the temple and came home the same day. It was tiring, but I have never hade a more beautiful day in the mission. It was such a privilege to be there to see Karen take out her endowments and be sealed to Edwin, her husband. Apart from the parents, the bride and groom and one other couple from the ward, we were the only ones there. It was the first real live sealing I've been to and it was just beautiful. I think I can see myself doing it someday :)

I have about 500 pictures that I'll be putting on a disk to send you all soon, I hope. That's one thing HB's taught me--take pictures! Speaking of, transfers are this Wednesday and President's told me I'll be getting a new companion but that I'll be staying here in Santiago. This also means that Hna. Kennedy is leaving as well, which just about breaks my heart. Yesterday the sacrament was pretty much all about the missionaries. HB and HK gave their good bye talks and then HK and I sang "I know that my redeemer lives" (in ENGLISH) together, with the last line in Spanish. It was pretty nice, if I do say so myself.

So changes are around the corner and the opportunity to start a new slate is coming. Should be good.
l
ove you all very much,
Hna. Brew/"Hannah Montana" (the young women have started calling me this after seeing a picture of me with my hair down and curled. Plus it's a lot easier than "Brewster.")

And the sky is graaay...

Hi family,

I don't know if you all got the email I sent last week or not because I seem to have had some technical difficulties, but if not I apologize and would like to reassure you that all is well. And that I normally write on Mondays but these past two weeks have been exceptions.

Okay! Moving on...Things here are going well for the most part. We've seem to hit a few walls with some investigators who aren't wanting to come to church, get married or keep other such important commandments, but we're plugging along doing what we can to at least make people's lives a little better here in Sunny Santiago. One good thing that's come out of this is that I've reinstated morning running to help us keep in shape and shed off a bit of stress. thank goodness we live close to a soccer stadium :).

My new role in the branch has become official translator for Elder Robison. In case you don't remember, the Robisons are the senior couple here from the states that live right next door to us and don't speak much Spanish yet...which really just makes things all the more fun :). I feel like another member of the branch presidency after having to sit in on and translate the goings on in meetings. I may have found my job for when I get home :).

Sorry for the brevity of this letter but the week went by so quickly that I can't even remember what happened...more to come next week.

love you all,
Hna. Brewster

Lo bueno lo malo y lo feo

Buenas TARDES familia!

Lo siento por no haberles escrito ayer.

We had a change in our district meeting for this week, so this is while you're all hearing from me late. Sorry to those of you whom I know are anxiously waiting at your computers round about midday to hear the recent haps in the Panama Mission.
First off, CONGRATULATIONS to Ben and Hilary (and Ella and Ethan) for the little boy that will be joining them this summer!!! I had a feeling it was going to be a boy. Don't know why. But I am very excited to come home and meet the two newest members of the family this summer and assure them that I AM the favorite aunt, though they don't know me :). What happy news.

So...remember how everything was bright and shiny and happy here in Santiago? Well the Lord has reminded me why there needs to be opposition in all things this past week. It was a toughy. My companion's been sick and I did divisions with the other sisters here (which meant I got to fulfill a mission-long dream of being Hna. Kennedy's companion for 2 days :)) but much of the time was spent at home. I don't like getting thrown off the groove but this is what I get for thinking that I'd mastered the virtue of patience...turns out I'm still lacking in that one. There have been other little curveballs from Satan thrown this week but I'd prefer to focus on the good stuff. It was really a neat experience teaching with Hna. Kennedy just shortly after both of us had completed a year of being in the mission. When we walked out of a particularly good lesson about the Restoration, I turned to her and said, "Would you have believed a year ago while we were in the MTC thinking that we'd never learn Spanish that we'd be here side by side right now teaching like we just did?" It really was neat to note the difference. Clearly, the neatest part was witnessing the changes that are taking place in the lives of the people we're teaching because nothing's more gratifying than to teach simple truths and watch the dawning comprehension that comes into people's faces as we explain things they once knew a long time ago. Next week I'll have to tell you all more about a few of our investigators specifically--particularly Hna. Kenia and Hna. Mixi. They're incredible. The only roadblock we have is that neither one of them is married...kind of a biggie but we're working on it.

Anywho, happy February and thank you for your prayers and love.

Love you all,
Hna. Brewster

Ayala Vido un ano ya

Hi family,
What a week! We had zone conference, interviews, district conference in my area and a whole lot of traveling back and forth to do. I feel like I was just sitting here writing to you all and I here I am again. The weeks pass quickly here and they are not dull.

One notable thing in particular, on Thursday I completed ONE YEAR in the mission! It was neat because since I live with Hna. Kennedy, she and I were able to celebrate together. She used the Robisons oven next door to make brownies and we celebrated with Hna. Ponce and Hna. Brenes, sharing with them our nuggets of grand wisdom we have acquired in a year...not really, but we did eat brownies.

It's so weird to think about everything that's happened in just 12 months. I remember everything so well that it seems like a joke when I look at my calendar and it tells me I'm 2/3 done here. On Friday we had our large zone conference and we had to travel 3 hours to get to Chorrera, my second zone. That was one of the weirdest deja'vousie experiences ever, and seeing as my second transfer wasn't the happiest event to ever occur in my life, there was a part of me that felt a little haunted as we walked down the same streets, past the old ¨Chichemito¨ stand and the chapel. It made me laugh, though, to think of how things have changed. My Spanish is so much better, I know my way around, I have many more friends in the mission and I just feel altogether more confident with everything. But that being said, I still oftentimes feel like I'm new at this just because I'm ALWAYS learning. There's always something I didn't know before, some new flaw to fix or another lesson to learn. Just when I think I've mastered one thing, I get served a slice of humble pie and realize I'm very far from that "perfect missionary" I always wanted to be and it makes me grateful for the time I've got left to learn and do all that I can to make other people's lives better here in Panama--including my own.

But I want you all to know that my testimony has grown tremendously in this last year and I absolutely love what I get to do every day. It is, as one of my companions described it, a dream job. What a comfort it is to know that we have the truth--that thanks to Joseph Smith and the restoration of the gospel, we don't have to worry about what we're doing or why we're here. Prophets are still alive to help us and guide us along today and we just need to listen and do what they say to be a happier, better people. Pretty simple, huh?

I love you all so very much. Thank you for your letters, your prayers and above all your love that you've shown me in this last year. I do miss you but I know we'll see each other pretty darn soon.

les quiero mucho,
Hna. Brewster

A little less explication...a little more action

(Yeah...hope you all got a good laugh at my grammatical error in the package I sent home. My English is no so good...)

¡Buuuuuuuuueeenos Dias, familia!

Today I am writing to you all from a beautiful place called Santiago, my new area, which rests peacefully in the middle of Panama where the deer and the antelope play. Okay, I've never seen a deer or antelope, but we are in farm town here and I am absolutely LOVING it! Santiago is like a dream--in some ways it actually reminds me of the cabin. I'm surrounded by beautiful trees, rolling hills, happy farm folk and slightly--ever so slightly--cooler weather. My new companion is Hna. Brenes from Costa Rica and she's fantastic. She loves to talk (like the Latina version of Natalie--and I mean that in a good way) and she's still fairly new in the mission so she's so enthusiastic and optimistic about everthying we do and already I've seen some amazing things happen in my short time here. I think I've done more service in 5 days here than in my whole mission before! We're always finding people to help because they're much poorer here. Did I mention that I love it? Also, another thing to add to the "pro" list, we are living in a gorgeous rat-free apartment with a pair of other sisters, one of which happens to be Hna. Kennedy, one of my best buddies from the MTC! And living right next door to us is a senior couple, the Robisons, whom I have also fallen in love with. Yesterday Sister Robison made FUNERAL POTATOES. You can't possibly understand the immensity of my joy upon eating that little plateful of food. Needless to say, life is good. We're already working with a family that wants to be baptized by the end of this month and there are several other positive investigators who are expressing some true interest. I keep waiting for the catch...

I do miss parts of my last area, of course. Sister Bloomfield ran into our Colombian family at the Super Market the other day and they say they want her to come by and visit. I think it's only out of friendship, though. The girl we had been teaching, Jenny, now has a date set for baptism, which of course is excellent news.

By now you've all heard that I decided to extend until August, so I'm hoping everyone is getting work off and such so that we can all hit up the cabin together that next week (I get home on the 11th and the week after we leave, Dad says.) If I sound trunky, I blame the music that was playing on the 2 hour ride into Chitre this morning: Abba's "Chiquitita"--but all in Spanish. Hna. Brenes told me her parents aboslutely loved ABBA and I said, "What a coincidence..."

Glad to hear that things are going well for all of you. Still don't know what Hilary's having, right? Boy or Girl? ("Gosh, I hope so.") My congrats to Jessica on the news of her twins and to Amy on their baby girl who's on her way. The fam's flourishing.

I feel so lucky to be here teaching the gospel right now in Panama and I thank you all for your constant prayers, letters, encouragement and support. I wouldn't waste my time preaching something I didn't know with certainty to be true if I had to be away from all of you for this long (p.s. one year on Thursday). I love the gospel.

les quiero mucho,
Hna. Brewster

Happy New Year!

¡Feliz año nuevo a todos! Espero que hayan fijado metas buenas :)

This was a busy, good week here in what I'm sure was one of my final weeks in Marcasa. Changes are next week and President tells me I'm out of here. Kind of sad...but ready at the same time. Especially after what happened on Wednesday night. I was in the back room putting away clothes when I heard scuttling in my suitcase. Hna. Bloomfield and I both grabbed brooms and took a good whack at it and out jumped the biggest, fattest ROUS I've ever seen. It ran over HB's foot and I can tell you that much screaming/wild broom whacking ensued. I didn't think I was the type of woman that screamed at rats but there's just something about having it jump out at you that takes you off guard. HB told methat to check and make sure there weren't any more in my suitcase, so I reluctantly whackedit a couple of more times. Out jumped slightly smaller those equally fat MRS. Rat, who scurried about the room for a minute before our piercing screams forced her to flee. (Really, I'm quite surprised the neighbors didn't stop' by to see if someone had been trying to kill us--they might have been consoled by the hysterical laughter that followed the piercing screams, I guess). We decided we couldn't sleep until we'd poked and prodded every little nook and cranny with our brooms that night. We didn't find anymore, thank goodness. However last night I found an oldpiece of ham on my suitcase and HB assures me she was NOT eating in the back room...perhaps it was a peace offering. Anyway, I'm looking forward to a new apartment!

We spent New Years at home ofcourse but not before one of our members loaded us up with delicious ham, pineapple, apples, grapes, bread and sparkling cider. We couldn´thave slept at midnight even if we wanted to because the fireworks outdid the ones from Christmas. Panamanians just love noise.

So it's now 2011 and I'll be seeing you all pretty soon---maybe too soon. (Don't get mewrong--I love you.)

Happy New Year!
love,
HnaBrewster

Another Merry Christmas to you!

Hi family!

I know about half of you just saw me like 40 hours ago, but for those who didn´t, Merry late Christmas! I wish I could've talked to all of you but I was only allowed to use Skype to call home. But I can't really complain about that, can I?
To Ben and Hilary--Thank you so much for the package!!! Hilary, you know me too well. Everything you put in there was exactly what I had on my wish list. And I absolutely adore Ella's works of art that you included :). If you do end up having twins, I'm totally down for being a live-in nanny. That would be awesome. Hope you guys enjoyed Christmas with the Knightons!

To Natalie and Ryan--Thanks again for the Christmas wreath and lights! Made me feel at home on Christmas Eve. How did the first Christmas at home go?
To Angie and Caden--I'm sorry I only got to talk to you via Skype through a cell phone..kind of lame. But I love you and miss you both very much. Hopefully you'll be around on Mother`s Day!

To Dave and Katie--SEND ME SOME OF THAT BACKER'S CAKE! No...kidding...but seriously. Also, I loved the Cate Blanchett impression, Katie. That made my Christmas.
So Merry Christmas to one and all and a Happy New Year! Can't believe we're starting 2011...yikes.

You haven't missed much in the last day. Sister Bloomfield and I spoke in our ward yesterday and President and Sister Ward came to listen. Not intimidating or anything...but it went well. I used Ebeneezer Scrooge to talk about loving one another. Not sure if everyone got it, but to me it was brilliant.

The weather here is still uncharacteristically cold, so Sis. Bloomfield and I may be heading back to the apartment and making cocoa. I love that she loves doing these things with me. I'm really going to miss her in 2 weeks when we have transfers. It's not looking like we'll be baptizing a family before I go, but it doesn`t matter'--we're working hard anyway.

All right, well, that's all I've got for you right now.
love you all and Happy 2011!

See ya next year!
Hna. Brewster

Through the years...

¡¡Feliz Navidad, mi querida familia!!

Today I don't have much time to write but it doesn't matter because I'll be TALKING to you all this weekend--or at least to those of you who will be home for Christmas. The exciting news is that I will most likely be using SKYPE, so you'll all get to see me and make comments about my Latin appearance and lack of femininity due to the hot, humid climate in which I live. It will be exciting :).

I'll try to call those of you who aren't present if I can, but in case I don't get the chance to tell you this myself, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! I am so grateful for my amazing family and for everything you all do for me.

I love you all!

love,
Al

Catching up - again!

Hello my family!

Today I'm writing from "La Oficina de la Misión Panamá." We (sister bloomfield, the assistants and the office elders) have been busy sorting through packages for our Christmas party we're having next week with ALL of the missionaries. We're trying to make sure that everyone gets at least one package for Christmas time, so there's been a little "Robin-Hooding" going on (i.e. the gringos are sharing the goodies with the Latinos, whether they like it or not). I did notice a nice package from home for me in the pile, but I resisted the urge to open it (thank you :)). (p.s. Thanks, Mom, for the thanksgiving/christmas decorations that I just got in the mail. Sister Bloomfield loves you for including an advent calendar for her :))

We have had some pretty crazy weather here lately, actually. You won't believe this but we actually had to wear SWEATERS outside last week. i think that's the first time in Panama history that we've been cold. Sis. Bloomfield and I bought cocoa and decorated our lovely little hovel with extra Christmas lights from the mission home and the decorations that you sent, Mom. Of course we{ll be taking them home soon because we are very soon moving in with Elder Altamirano, a member of our ward who happens to be an area seventy. That's right--I'm spending Christmas with a general authority :). Cool, huh? This comes after about 3 months of living in a literal hole in the wall. Last week we woke up to a river in our study room (leak in the roof) and yesterday I found that a giant rat had taken a giant bite out of my newly purchased loaf of bread (unless Sister Bloomfield was feeling particularly hungry and just went to town). plus we have quite the crowd of...let{s call them "fans" outisde of our apartment building. So a relocation is very necessary! It does rob me of my Dickens Christmas I envisioned...but oh well. This Christmas will be a memorable one!

We're still doing our best to work with the Familia Aguirre and get them to accept a baptismal date...we had stopped going to them for a couple of days because they weren't coming to church and Monica got soooooo mad at us. Well, that's fine. Come to church, be baptized and we'll see you for eternity. Seems a simple solution to me!

Well, I have to run, but only one more email before I talk to you all next week!

Love you!
Hna. Brewster