Week 12

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been a blur. I almost forgot that Christmas happened this past week! On Christmas Eve my companion and I made cookies and took them to a lot of our investigators. Apparently Hispanics celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve. We ate A LOT of food. I was SO full. My favorite hispanic food is still tamales and I had some really good ones made by one of our investigators who is older and very grandmother-like. The ones she made were probably the best I've ever had.

On Christmas Day we got to visit members and spend time with them. I also got to talk with my family which was wonderful. It was good to see them and hear their voices. My companion and I also got to be around someone who had just gotten their wisdom teeth out and it was the funniest thing ever! Too bad I wasn't around when my little brother got his out.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and that you were able to take some time and think about Christ and what he has done for each of you. I'm grateful for my Savior; to have someone who understands me and knows how to comfort me.

Happy New Year (in a few days) as well! 

I love you all!

Hermana Brighton

Week 11

Dear Family and Friends,

Wow can't believe it's almost Christmas! Just a few more days. The members here have been so nice and Hermana Leyva and I have received so many little gifts and things from the members. The benefits of living in a small town I think.

Things I want to share:

• My companion and I went to two Christmas parties. One for the 2nd Royal Ward and the other for our Spanish Branch combined with the 1st Royal Ward. We were very happy to see 2 people we met a day or two before that we invited last minute actually come plus two families that are investigating and a few less active that we invited. It was awesome! We gave church tours after each of the parties.
• We went to a funeral this Saturday for a man who passed away in our ward. He's been fighting cancer for 10+ years I believe. Although we really didn't know him that well the service was wonderful and uplifting. It's so wonderful to know the Plan that God has for each of us, to know that we can life with our families again, to know that this earth life is not the end. It provides much comfort to those families and friends of loved ones that have passed away.
• I got to have some of my first opportunities to eat with some Hispanic families in their homes. The food was delicious. Didn't know re-fried beans and rice could taste so good!
• I may or may not of totally squished a tiny white mouse with the car this week...I think we did though sadly. We were on our way to one of the Christmas parties and I saw it just in time to probably run over it. Poor mouse. Hope it survived though.
• This past week we've had a lot of lessons and things have really been great. The weather today and yesterday has been BEAUTIFUL. I think it got up into the 50s! So wonderful.

Well I hope everyone has a great Christmas this week! Remember Moroni 10:18- "And I would exhort you, my beloved brethren, that ye remember that every good gift cometh of Christ." Because of Christ we can live with God again. Because of Christ we can repent and become a little better each day. I'm so grateful for this knowledge.

I love you all!

Love,

Hermana Brighton

Week 10

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been awesome. I truly have discovered the key to happiness for myself- turning outwards. Focusing on others. I've been told this so many times but I have really found it to be true, especially for me. 

And now I will do bullet points again-

• This week I conciously made the effort to give my all to the Lord and hold nothing    back. Making this decision has been a turning point for me and I have felt so much happier. I have felt so much love for those around me and I just feel so much better. This isn't to say that I don't still have moments of frustration or sadness or annoyance, I am just better able to move on and get past these moments quicker. It feels so much better to be happy and positive.
• Today a dog peed on my jacket. We were at a members house washing our clothes and unfortunately I left my jacket on the floor. The companion said it was because the dog liked me and was marking me as his territory. Yeah... I would prefer the dog do that in some other manner. Not by urinating on my clothes. Luckily I was able to just stick it in the washer with my other stuff.
• Don't remember if I shared this cause I can't remember if it happened this week or last week, but here goes... When my companion opened the door to our apartment a bird flew in, flew across the room, and SMASH wacked into the window and fell stunned on our coach (which was beneath the window). It didn't die... I think... cause I got a tissue and picked it up and put it outside in a box and when my companion and I returned later it was gone. Hope it's okay...
• This week I was told by a recent convert I had to marry him. He of course was joking. The story behind it is that after he came out with us to visit people, before we parted ways my companion asked if we could do anything for him. He asked us to pray for him to find a 'buena esposa' and we said we would. He said if we didn't find him one I'd have to marry him so he could get custudy of his kids who are currently with his ex wife... He was joking of couse so it was pretty funny but I have to admit I felt slightly awkward.
• This week we visited a man who is less active. His wife divorced him several years ago and since then he hasn't really been to church. We could tell he was really struggling and seems to feel abandoned by the Lord. We testified that God loves him and invited him to Pray to feel that love and to ask the Lord for guidance. He really seemed depressed and my heart aches for him. I know though, that only he can help himself and the Lord if he lets Him. 
• Hermana Leyva and I had the wonderful experience of standing on a porch for basically 45 minutes talking to a man. He wanted us to come in but we couldn't because we didn't have another woman with us and he didn't have a wife. He was a little upset about this. This man was really nice though and has a testimony of God and has great faith. Hermana Leyva and I have high hopes for him if he chooses to open his heart and listen to the Gospel of Christ and act on what he learns. As we left the door though, both of us could not feel our feet. They were so cold!!! I can't imagine how bad the feet of the mormon pioneers must have hurt. It was in the 30s and we had shoes on and our feet still felt frozen and we couldn't feel them.

Well I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season! I love you all! Stay safe!

Love,

Hermana Brighton

Week 9

Dear Family and Friends,

How is everyone doing? I hope you all are doing wonderfully! I am doing pretty well. I'm getting used to the feeling of being tired all the time.

I'm just going to make a list of things I want to share.

• We got a new car. No I did not wreck the previous one. It hit 50,000 miles so the mission sells them I guess when they get to that point.
• A family we met a week ago or so is really progressing and doing well. They came to a baptism this past Saturday and then came to church the next morning! I was so so so happy to see them and so glad they actually came. So many people make commitments or say they will do something and then don't so it was so awesome to have people who actually did what they said they would do.
• When with my companion I felt strongly prompted to talk to a guy that was just standing next to a car. At first my companion wasn't so sure but then said she didn't feel like we shouldn't so we did go up and talk to him. The whole time we spoke with him he seemed really sad and the only thing that really came to my mind to say was God loves you. It was like I forgot how to say anything else. I found out yesterday that the guy we talked to is a friend of someone who comes out with my companion and I sometimes and that she'd been praying for a very long time that he would listen to missionaries. It was really amazing to hear this.
• This past Saturday my companion and I went to Kennewick to see one of her former investigators get baptized. It was a really sweet experience for her and I'm glad we got to go. We also had a baptism in Royal city that evening that we went to.
• Yesterday (Sunday) I watched the Christmas devotional... in Spanish... so I don't remember a lot of what was said but I really enjoyed the orchestra and choir. I was nice to just sit and listen to beautiful music.

Well those are just some of the main things I wanted to hit on. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Love,

Hermana Brighton

Week 8

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been a blur. I'll try to just give some highlights though.

Hermana Leyva and I were able to find a family that was being taught before. It is a husband and wife (well I hope they're married, though there is no guarantee...) and their two kids. One has down syndrome and is in 8th grade and the other is 3 and has autism. They are both so loving and patient with their kids and they both seem to have a sincere desire to know the truth. I really look forward to sharing the gospel with them and hopefully watching them progress.

I had exchanges yesterday and was in Basin City and stayed in the home of Brother and Sister Empy who said Reid (a friend of my sister) is their nephew. It's a small world, right Alicia? Yesterday may have been one of the best days of my mission so far. The Hermana I was with gave me so many oppurtunities to teach and bear testimony. I got to lead teaching the Restoration, and although it wasn't easy, I felt it went really well. I also got to invite someone to be baptized. He didn't exactly say yes but he didn't say no. I also got to rake leaves yesterday. We stoped by to teach a woman and she was out working and we volunteered to help. I loved just being able to serve like that. She seemed surprised but very grateful.

The other day it snowed further out of the city and later that evening while driving I experienced for the first time sliding. It was pretty scary because I had to swerve out and around someone so I didn't slide into them and hit them. I definitely had unseen help when this happened and all is well. Luckily it was out in the country and there was no one else around besides the person in front of me who I was actually following to an appointment. I shook me up a bit but all is okay and I just have to remember to be super careful when braking when there is snow or ice. When I was on exchanges my companion took the car to the shop and they said the front tires needed to be changed so that could have been part of the problem.

This morning our zone went to the temple in Richland and it was a really nice experience. This is why we didn't have P-day yesterday, because we're having it today. After the temple a member drove us to Target and I was able to get a couple things including a couple longer skirts, that hopefully will help a little with staying warmer. Seriously, I can't believe how cold it gets here and the wind makes it a hundred times worse. I think it was maybe 12 degrees this morning if I remember correctly what the car temperature gauge said. My heart goes out to those missionaries serving in places like Russia and other freezing cold places. They are awesome.

Well I am doing pretty well and I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving this past week! I am so thankful for my family and friends who show so much love towards me. I also am thankful I can serve a mission for my Heavenly Father to show the love I have for Him and my Savior Jesus Christ. I challenge everyone to just sit down and write a list of things they are grateful for which trust me can get pretty lengthy. Then say a prayer of gratitude and just thank Heavenly Father for all your blessings. It will make you feel better and realize how blessed you really are.

I love you all and hope you all can remember the true reason for this CHRISTmas Season! Try looking up a video called He Is The Gift, it's a new video put out by the church that is less than 3 minutes but is wonderful and is about Christ.

I love you all!

Hermana Brighton

week 7

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been the longest week of my life hands down. So much has happened and days are so long. First let me tell you about where I am.

I am in Royal City, Washington an area known for agriculture. Currently though I am freezing. I did not come prepared for the winter weather so things have been interesting. I think for the first time in my life I have experienced my whole body shaking cause I'm so cold. I have already been gifted several pairs of warm tights and a pair of boots from some wonderful members here.

There are a lot of hispanic people here also and I am struggling with understanding them. I feel like either I understand basically a whole conversation or I understand nothing at all... Sometimes I just want to cry because I want to understand what people are saying in spanish SO BAD but I just can't. My companion keeps reminding me I just need to be patient with myself but I'm having a hard time with this. Back to there being a lot of hispanic people... I would just like to say they are a lot nicer than white people. They actually talk to us. I had the wonderful experience of getting a door slammed in my face last night and let me just say this person was not hispanic. Oh well. I was told to remember it's not me they are rejecting, it's Christ and His Gospel.

So my new companion is none other than Sister Leyva who I actually know from home because she was in my stake and we went to Girls' Camp together. It's been pretty cool getting to talk about some people we both know/knew from home. She's a hard worker and I know I have a lot to learn.

We were both doubled into our area so that has been intersting and really hard for me. I have to drive and I don't like not ever knowing exactly how to get places. I'm also not exactly looking forward to icey and snowy roads...

A couple miracles for this week have been two times we have pulled up to a house and found the people we were looking for pulling up at the same time. Both times we were able to talk with the people and in one case we had a really good lesson.

This past Sunday my companion and I spoke in our English ward and introduced ourselves. We cover both the Royal City 2nd Ward (English) and the Royal City 3rd Branch (Spanish). We have a lot of work cut out for us, but the members of the ward and branch here are truly absolutely amazing and I already feel so much love and appreciation for them. Because we cover a ward and branch we are at church from8am to about 2:30pm on Sundays. We have a couple meetings and we also attend both the ward and branch for part of the time.

Well I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the warm weather in Texas!

Love,
Hna Brighton

Week 6 photo

Hermana Brighton with President and Sister Ware

departing Mexico City/ Week 6

Dear Friends and Family,

My time at the CCM has just about drawn to a close. I will be leaving the CCM on a bus at2:30AM. My flight out of Mexico City is at 6:02AM and I arrive in the Dallas/Fort Worth airport at8:40AM. I leave the D/FW airport at 12:30PM and arrive in Seattle at 2:55PM. I then leave Seattle at 4:40PM and arrive in Pasco at 5:30PM. So basically tomorrow is going to be a VERY long day.

This past Friday was full of In-Field Orientation meetings. We learned a lot about the importance of Planning and trusting in the Spirit to lead and guide us in our actions and while we teach. We also learned about the importance of involving the Ward and members and asking for their help with missionary work. I have to say these meetings helped me realize how important it is to depend on the Lord and others to help us missionaries because we sure can't do this work on our own.

Saturday and Sunday flew by quickly and now it's Monday and I will be leaving in less than 12 hours. It's hard to believe. The elders in my district leave at 8:30 tonight for Lima Peru so then it will just be Hna Safsten and I and one of the other Hermanas in our district. Her companion left last night at 3AM. Sunday before anyone left, the Elders gave all the Hermanas priesthood blessings which provided great comfort and peace. I am now excited to go to Washington and start meeting new people and inviting them to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Well from what I have heard it is pretty cold in Washington now, so I am going to miss the perfect weather here in Mexico. It hardly ever gets too cold and almost always in the 60s/70s during the day. I'll have to get used to wearing a jacket for the next several months I suppose. So next time I write I'll be in Washington which is so crazy to realize. It will probably also feel like I've been there for so long but no time at all either because that's what it felt like my first week in Mexico.

Adios until next week!

Hna Brighton

Week Five

Dear Family and Friends,

My time in Mexico is drawing to a close, and almost too quickly for my liking. I will really miss the friends I have made while being here for the last several weeks.

Here is a quote that I really like which was shared with me by a friend, and am going to try to keep in mind as I go through out my mission. "The best antidote I know for worry is work, the best medicine for despair is service. The best cure for weariness is the challenge of helping someone who is even more tired." -Gordan B. Hinckley

This past Sunday for our 'movie' night as I like to call it, we watched Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration. I loved it so much and felt the spirit so strongly during it, and afterwards while discussing it with my district. I heard something in the movie that has really stuck with me. Emma Smith asked her husband "Do you ever wonder if the Lord asks too much?" Joseph Smith's reply was one that came out of great faith and love of the Lord that we all should also have. He said- "I don't let myself." I know Joseph Smith really was a prophet of God and that through him the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored to the earth. I am so grateful for the Book of Mormon and how I have the opportunity to read it every day. There is so much to be learned from this book and from the Bible that we could study them both for our whole lives and likely never fully comprehend all there is to comprehend in these two great books inspired of the Lord. I know that prayer is one way to receive inspiration but so is reading from the holy scriptures and from other modern revelation from prophets and apostles.

Some other events from the week...

All 6 of the Elders from my district and me and my companion sang in the CCM choir on Tuesdaybefore a devotional. We sang Joseph Smith's First Prayer of course in spanish though. We also got A TON of rain that day. Thank goodness my companion had her umbrella and I was able to squeeze under it with her. 

The other day for breakfast we had a Chicken Strip salad... yeah that will be one thing I miss about the CCM-having dinner for breakfast not to mention not having to ever prepare my own food. I have thoroughly enjoyed the comedor (that's what the cafeteria is called) here.

Another thing I will miss will be the devotionals we have here at the CCM. Basically they're usually about an hour and are either pre-recorded talks/devotionals from BYU or we have a live speaker. I always leave feeling uplifted. 

Gym time will also be greatly missed. Here in the CCM we usually have about an hour to do what ever and often times my companion and I play volleyball or shoot some baskets. Occasionally we have played soccer and once we played ping pong. There are always a variety of things to do. They also have work out machines we've used several times. It'll be interesting to learn about what the normal exercise activities are in my mission.

So I will be leaving the CCM at 2:30 a.m. on Tuesday... So basically I won't be getting too much sleep Monday night. We have to get to the airport 2 hours ahead of our flight time which I think is around 6 a.m. so it should be a pretty interesting experience. There are two elders who are also going to Kennewick with me and Hna. Safsten. It's funny because one of the elders that is also going to WA was the first other new missionary I saw because we both arrived to the MX airport at about the same time so we were picked up together. 

Well time is short, and it's crazy to think next time I'll be writing will be from Washington!

Love you all!

Hna Brighton                   Before and after haircut!

Hermana Brighton's District

Week 4

So another week has flown by! 

I've been busy learning the gospel in Spanish. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed a bit but I just keep pushing on one week, one day, one hour at a time. Currently my companion and I are teaching 4 separate investigators. We teach two of them everyday, and the other two we alternate between every other day except Sunday and Thursday.

I have been practicing a solo to audition with to sing in a devotional, and while practicing yesterday the woman in charge of the musical numbers heard me and told me not to worry about auditioning and that I probably could sing either this Sunday or next. The song is Abide with Me, Tis Eventide in english, but I'm singing it in Spanish, and it's a beautiful arrangement. I really love this song and it's interesting to see how the translation into Spanish isn't exact and is actually a little different. I like it though.

At some point this week the electricity went out one night. Luckily it was not long after we'd turned the lights out, and the only reason we realized the electricity was out was because the carbon monoxide sensor started beeping like crazy. We were able to call reception and make sure the reason it was going off was because the electricity went out, then we took out the batteries and went back to bed leaving our windows open just for precaution. We found out the next day the elders in our district had just ignored the beeping and gone to bed, which I'd have to say is pretty impressive because it was quite obnoxious. I guess they ended up taking the battery out also the next morning though.

A spiritual though: New revelation does not discredit previous or existing revelation. In my opinion it often builds on it or brings greater understanding. The Book of Mormon definitely does this and I'm so grateful for this book. I've been reading in Alma about the Anti-Nefi-Lehi people and they are amazing and so are the sons of Mosiah. There is a lot I can learn from them, like their persistence in sharing the gospel, even when others told them that there was no point. My love for the Book of Mormon really has grown since being here. I often spend a majority of my personal study time in the morning just reading and learning from the Book of Mormon.

On a side note, Happy Late Halloween! It was fun thinking about how lots of my friends and family were probably out trick or treating, while I was sitting inside studying. I hope everyone had a lot of fun! One of our teacher's mom made our district little bags of candy. One kind of candy I really really liked in it was called Frosh and sadly unless I come back to Mexico I probably won't get to have that again. I will be keeping my eyes open for it though. The tienda here also sells a candy called Bueno bars and they are delicious. All the Elders in my district are in love with them, and I'll admit I really like them too.

Well I hope everyone is doing well!

Love,

Hna Brighton

Week Three

Dear Friends and Family,

Hard to believe a whole other week has passed by already. I feel like I just was writing homeyesterday. 

I want to start off with some thoughts I´ve had during personal study and other times.

A question I asked myself was- Why are the teachings and Atonement of Jesus Christ important for me? Some of my answers...

•  I can find relief from guilt, pain, and frustration.
•  I can find comfort in knowing there is someone else out there who knows my feelings and thoughts, who can help me.
• I can hand over my burdens. 
• I have a brother who is perfect and because of Him I can become perfect also. 
• When if feels like no one is there for me, or no one likes me or it feels like there is not much hope- there IS someone who is there who likes me and loves me, who gives hope, who is the source of hope- my Savior Jesus Christ.

I know that the Savior can help all who turn to him with a sincere desire to change and become better. It's okay to make mistakes but it's important to recognize them as soon as possible and fix them. I struggle with being meek humble and submissive but I know that through Christ all things are possible and I can develop these attributes with His help. Practice makes Permanence. Let us all practice becoming better people and with Christ's help we will become the people God wants us to be. We will be happy because we know who we are and why we're here and where we are going.

Another spiritual thought. I think a big problem all people have, including myself sometimes, is to judge others righteously. I want to share some thoughts I wrote in my journal recently. "It's not our job to judge, rather, it is our job to invite and help all to come unto Christ and be perfected through Him. Jesus did not shun the sinners or the "unclean". Instead He served them and loved them. Jesus was and is perfect. He is the example. We, who are all sinners, surely do not think ourselves to be better than Him so we have no right in the world to pass judgments. We should leave that to God. While on earth all we need to worry about is making ourselves the best we can be, by relying on the Savior, and following in His footsteps by serving all those within our reach. The only person we can really change is our self and even with this we need the Savior's help." 

And now on a lighter note... I was asked what are some foods we eat here at the CCM (Centro de Capacitación Misional México). I am happy to say that for breakfast in the past week I have eaten chicken tenders, tamales, eggs, and other things I can't remember. A lot of the time there isn't always the typical 'breakfast' foods for breakfast. I did have a waffle the other day though. Something I really like here is a yogurt drink they have here. It's comparable to Danimals but in my opinion it's better. Fun fact- the Comedor goes through about 50 jars of Nutella a week! Pretty crazy huh? I have to admit though, I love putting some on toast and eating it for a dessert sometimes. For lunch and dinner there is often some type of meat. I really love when they have chicken with this red seasoning that kind of dyes the meat. It's delicious. My neighbors from home would sometimes give us the same kind of chicken and I've always loved it. I've also discovered that I actually like papaya now. Maybe I just had never really had good papaya til I came here to Mexico.

This morning my district along with a few others went to the Mexico City temple. It's closed for renovation so we didn't get to go inside, but we went to the visitor's center and got a tour. It was really nice to get to be on temple grounds. We saw the old CCM which was behind the temple.

Also a district in our zone left this week. The sister training leaders were in this district and it was kind of sad to see them go but I'm happy and excited for them to be out in their missions. For FHE Monday before they left, the Elders had a tie trade, while the rest of us sisters and the new district played a little game. We're also getting a new district in our zone this week again so my district is now the oldest, which is kinda weird to think about. Time has gone by pretty quickly it seems. I can still remember the first day I got here pretty clearly.

Well this is it for this week! I hope all is well with everyone.

Love,

Hermana Brighton

Week Two

Hello Friends and Family,

Can't believe it's been two weeks while at the same time I feel like I've been here for ages!!! As many have probably heard before, a day in the CCM or MTC truly does feel like a week and a week almost feels like a day looking back on it.

Some highlights of this week:

On Saturday an apostle of the Lord came and spoke in a devotional here at the CCM. Neil L. Anderson was the one who came and he focused on the Atonement of Jesus Christ in his talk. It was wonderful. Before the devotional he shook hands with each missionary. He had such a big smile on his face the whole time and he also was pretty funny. In the beginning he made a couple jokes, but not many laughed, probably cause they weren't sure if they should. He then said oh I see you all think I'm really serious with a big smile... that got some more chuckles. He then put on a totally straight face and said I am and stared us all down for a few seconds then started laughing. That definitely lightened the mood and then his talk was wonderful and uplifting.

I'd like to once again bear my testimony of the power of the priesthood, especially of priesthood blessings. I wasn't feeling very well and I was really congested. I got a blessing and by the next day I was feeling much better, not just physically but emotionally too. I'm so grateful to be surrounded by worthy priesthood holders all the time here at the CCM.

Sundays here in the CCM are wonderful, at least I love them a lot, because we get to not only go to our church meetings, but in the evening and afternoon, we have a devotional and in the evening we watch a few church films. I absolutely love this because I always end Sunday feeling refreshed and ready to start a new week. And can I just say? I LOVE Elder Holland so much. For the last two Sundays the devotionals we've had have had him speaking. (They're pre-recorded usually from old devotionals he's given in different MTC's and so forth.) Elder Holland teaches with such power and emotion and I'm so grateful for him and the example he sets. I have already learned so much from him and I hope to continue to be able to for a long time. Something he talked about in one devotional was how some missionaries can't wait to get home from their mission and get back to "real life." It was like he then stared us down through the screen and said "Missionary work IS real life" and basically told us to get used to it and love it. I really appreciated his talk.

On a lighter note, I just wanted to share something one of my teachers said. He was explaining that we needed to move our mouths more to speak correctly, then he moves his lips like a fish and says somos pezes meaning we are fish and we need to move our lips more. I don't know it was just pretty silly and funny in the moment. Hno. Soto says lots of funny things and the Elders in my district have a running quote book for him. My other teacher likes to try to say my name with a "Texan"accent, since I'm from Texas, which is pretty funny cause he himself has a totally different accent and it comes out sounding pretty interestingly.

Today has been great. Since it's preparation day we've been able to do lots of things including get laundry done, then my companion and I went and played tennis with a couple Elders in our district. If you know me, you'd know I do not play tennis... nonetheless, it was pretty fun. :)

I'd like to leave you all with a great quote from an Elder in my district. "Being comfortable isn't the same as being happy." I can tell you right now that sometimes being a missionary is very hard (ha and I've only been one for 2 weeks) and you are definitely NOT comfortable all the time. Often you get tired and I'll admit I get frustrated and pretty uptight and stressed, which before now I wasn't like that a lot... or at least it didn't seem like it. Although I have these moments, I also have never felt so happy as I have at times here on my mission. I feel like I am being stretched to my limit sometimes, but I know this is what the Lord wants for me. To learn and grow, like I never have before. I'm learning that I need to trust my Heavenly Father more than ever and rely on my Savior to get me though hard and frustrating times so that I can feel the peace and joy then both want for me. I know they both are happy I am serving a mission to invite others and help then come unto Them.

I love you all and hope all is well with you!

Love,

Hermana Brighton

Week0ne

Dear Friends and Family,

This week has been one of the hardest weeks in my entire life so far. It was also been one full of learning, studying, teaching, and praying. We pray SO much. I now understand why Alicia was always wanting to pray before doing anything, because as a missionary, that is what you do. It's good though and I can now say my prayers in mostly Spanish. It's amazing.

So I have a lot to say and it's probably not going to be very organized but here goes...

First of my District is awesome and so is my teacher. We have 6 Elders and 4 Hermanas. All 4 of us Hermanas live together in 1 of 5 rooms in a casa or house. We get a long very well. The first night I asked if they would all like to sing a hymn before going to bed and they all wanted to. We've made this a tradition. My companion and I are going to Washington, and our roommates are going to Salt Lake City. All the Elders in our district are going to Lima Peru West. As a district we get along quite well. We have had some fun times, some hard times, and some very spiritual moments. Together we are growing as missionaries and individuals and it's incredible.

Hermano Soto is our teacher and he is absolutely wonderful. I'm so happy that I actually can understand the majority of what he says in spanish. He is always willing to help us with what ever we need, and continues to push us to learn more and more. The spanish to english/english to spanish dictionary I was given when I got here had become one of my best friends, along with the other books we've received to help us learn Spanish.

The weather here has been absolutely INCREDIBLE. It's always the perfect temperature and I love it. The food is equally amazing. So far I've enjoyed almost everything I've had. It's wonderful.

In the afternoons as companionships we take turns teaching an "investigator". We have to prepare ahead of time what we want to teach and then we let the Spirit guide us when we go into the lesson. This has indeed been one of the hardest things I've done here because the lessons have to be all in Spanish. Once my companion and I trusted more in the Lord though, things went much more smoothly and we were able to share what we needed to.

Something else we have to do each week is prepare a 5 minute talk in Spanish. On Sundays the branch president will then randomly/follow the spirit and call on several missionaries to speak. Guess what? I spoke on Sunday. It went well because I was prepared though. The talk was on commandments. In my talk I shared verses 26 and 27 from Doctrine and Covenants 58 which I really love.

Some other things I've learned...

You never have a second chance to make a good first impression. I really like this.

What you are is much more powerful than what you say. As a missionary I know this is true. It is your job to be a good person who can invite the Spirit into situations to to be able to be eloquent in what you say. The Spirit is always the key in inviting people to follow the Gospel.

I also want to testify of the power of the Priesthood. I'm so grateful to be able to receive priesthood blessings. I know that when we are in need, we can turn to our Heavenly Father and He will guide us and tell us what we need to know.

I hope all are doing well. Although I have had many ups and downs, I am doing really well and I'm grateful to be serving the Lord.

Until next week!

Hermana Brighton