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