week 73

Dear Family and Friends,

I have enjoyed being here in Othello and I am already learning and growing in ways I know I wouldn't have if I'd stayed in Yakima to finish my mission. I was also blessed to be able to have an experience that just melted my heart. This past weekend was stake conference and I am in the same stake as I was in in previous months of my mission. One of the people I worked with and was baptized was asked to share her testimony during the adult session of stake conference. It was amazing to sit and listen to her share how the gospel has changed her life and blessed her in ways she never imagined and then near the end she looked at me from the pulpit and said how grateful she was that she was able to tell me in person that her and her husband would be going to the temple and receiving their endowments and getting sealed. Let's just say my eyes were not dry. It also felt a lot more personal because it was in spanish and a lot of the people only spoke english that were sitting around me. There was a translator though, but it of course is not the same as hearing it from someone's own mouth. I have permission to go to the temple with them and I am so happy. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful week and that you can take the opportunity to share the gospel with those who surround you, by example and word. Invite others to come with you to church or to activities and then invite them to meet with the missionaries and learn more in your home. 

Love you all so much!

Hermana Brighton

Week 72

Dear Family and Friends,

So lots of things will be changing for me this next transfer. I have been released as a Sister Training Leader and will be getting transferred. I will spend my last couple  months of the mission in Othello, which is only about 20 minutes from where I started my mission in Royal City. I am getting doubled in to an English speaking area which covers 2 English wards. I'll be in a zebra companionship (1 english companion 1 spanish) which will be good because although we are the english missionaries I'll be able to speak to people in spanish (because there are apparently A TON in Othello) and send the spanish missionaries over to them if they want to learn more. My companion will be Sister Fox and she's been out on her mission about 6 months. I look forward to all the things I'll learn as I focus on being consecrated and diligent. I'm also excited to start with a clean slate and apply all the things I've learned in the past months while serving in a few different areas.  

This past week both Desi and Amparo got baptized and their baptisms were beautiful. I'm so grateful for all that they have taught me as I've helped them come closer to Christ and learn about His restored gospel. I have learned so much about change. I know that people can truly change, I've seen it in me personally as well as others. I think something that sometimes makes it harder for people who are trying to change is when others don't seem to let them. They try to bring up what that person did in the past and pull them back to who they were. We need to be willing to let others hand their burdens over to Christ and be there to support them and help them move forward. We can't bring up past sins and mistakes that others have repented for because when we do so we are denying the cleansing and healing power of the Atonement which brings us under greater condemnation. I think it's important I mention though what true repentance is. It is change, it is feeling true sorrow that you've been disobedient to what God has asked of you and then seeking to do all you can to correct what you've done wrong. I love Doctrine and Covenants 58: 42-43 because of how straight forward it is. Those who truly have repented confess AND forsake their sins. They leave the past in the past and move forward while still learning from their mistakes. I believe that is one reason that although the Lord will forget, or forgive, our sins ( meaning He will no longer hold them against us), WE don't forget them. If we forgot the pain and sorrow our sins caused us then we wouldn't want to stop committing the same errors over and over. We are blessed to remember them so that we don't have to make the same mistakes again. We can learn and move forward in our lives gaining that experience and knowledge that we said we wanted when we lived with Heavenly Father before this earth life.

Well I hope everyone has a wonderful week! I love you all so much. I hope you are taking time to really study the scriptures. Start by writing some questions that you want answers to, then prayer, then turn to the scriptures. When you have a true desire to find what God wants you to know, the Spirit will lead you to what you need to study, but remember you have to do your part and put forth effort. Faith without works is dead.

Love,

Hermana Brighton

Week 71

Dear Friends and Family,

I hope you all had a great week. Sister Dee and I are seeing many miracles and we are so happy to be here in Yakima. I know that the Lord is guiding us to the people who need the gospel and we just need to not fear and be willing to open our mouths and talk to those we meet.

This next weekend two people are getting baptized that we have been working with since December and they are both incredible and we have seen how the gospel has changed them. They are happier, you can see it in their faces. One of them is so excited to be able to be baptized and know that the past mistakes and things they've done in the past will be left forever in the past and that she can become a new person as she makes this covenant with Christ.

Yesterday my companion and I rescued the pet rabbit of a member from getting eaten by a dog. We felt like we should go by the member's house even though we were almost positive they wouldn't be home. We went though and were able to get the dog away from the cage with the rabbit in it. The dog had tipped the cage and probably almost scared the rabbit to death before we got there, but we were able to call the member and he came and was able to put the rabbit somewhere safer than their front porch where it had been for a while. So that was a cool experience to be able to prevent some heartache for the family- especially the kids- if the rabbit had gotten killed or eaten, by acting on the feeling that we should go somewhere even though it didn't make sense at first.

Also we had a broadcast from Salt Lake City as our stake conference yesterday and it was incredible. It was focused on the simplicity of the gospel and the spirit was very strong testifying of the truth of the importance of reading the Book of Mormon and really studying it and other scripture, praying, and going to church. I know that it is through experience that we can find out if the church of Jesus Christ has been restored to the earth. We have to be willing to act on the message though and accept the answers we will receive. We have to align our will with God wants for us, and the way we do that is being obedient to his commandments which we find in the scriptures and from the prophets- living and those who have already died. John 7:17 is one of my favorite scriptures because it teaches us that we can find out if something is true by acting on it.

I hope everyone has a great next week and that you take time to think about how you can improve. What can you be more exactly obedient in? Love you all!

Hermana Brighton

Week 70

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been great. We've had a lot of leadership meetings since it was the first week of the month but we were still able to get out and work with our investigators and yesterday we found this adorable older couple by knocking around where a less active member was supposed to live. I have a testimony that the Lord really does guide us to the people we need to find. Even though we originally go somewhere for a different person or have different plans, if we are sensitive to the spirit, we are lead to people who need us. This couple let us in and after talking for a couple minutes we invited them to come to the church for a church tour and they agreed! So they followed us all the way over to the church and we had a wonderful lesson as we showed them around the church. Sister Dee and I are super excited for them. We will just need to be persistent with them. Though they do seem pretty open and willing to learn more, we will need to help them recognize the importance of making the time to learn more.

On Saturday we had a baptism and we are so happy for him because he truly is converted. This is something that stood out to me from a broadcast we had- that as missionaries are to Teach Repentance, and Baptize Converts. We need to make sure people are truly changing and have been converted to the Restored Gospel before they get baptized.

I'm grateful for the example of those in the Spanish branch I'm serving in because they have helped me so much, the members and the other missionaries as well. It's been incredible to see the work of the Lord move forward in miraculous ways. I know that there are people being drawn to the church because they each are needed in this grand work of helping return us all home to our Heavenly Father. I am constantly amazed by how the gospel of Jesus Christ really does change people into not just good people, but more that good. People who can and will make a difference in many lives if they continue to rely on God and His son Jesus Christ.

I love the Book of Mormon. I know that it was translated by a true prophet of God. I know that the organization of the church is inspired by God and that Christ is at the head of the church. I recognize that the members aren't perfect but if we are truly converted that means we are all trying to follow Christ in the best ways we can and we are constantly seeking to improve.

I hope you all have a great week! Happy Early Valentine's Day!

Love,

Hermana Brighton

week 69

Dear Family and Friends,

This next Saturday a man we have been working with will be getting baptized. We are so happy for him and what's cool is that originally he thought he'd be going to Venezuela to be baptized but plans changed and he decided to be baptized here. Honestly, I was going to be happy either way cause he was getting baptized, but my companion and I are super excited for him to be baptized here. He is someone who has really shown his desire to be baptized by keeping commitments, coming to church every Sunday for the past couple months, and he has sacrificed sleep to meet with us. He has a truck driving job and so it's kinda crazy hours and sometimes he won't get back til 5 or 6 pm and he gets up at like midnight, yet he will meet with us usually around 6 or 7pm. He almost always looks exhausted but he meets with us and comes to church because he knows what's important, where his loyalty is- to the Lord. He truly is incredible.

We are also teaching a few other people that are preparing for baptism with in this month and they all have such unique needs and stories but I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ has and will help each of them and everyone else who chooses to live it. I've learned understanding comes over time and most often through experiences in which one has had to act with out knowing, the witness comes after the trial of your faith.

Well I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Love,

Hermana Brighton