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