Week 64

Dear Family and Friends,

This week the family we've been working with got baptized and confirmed. They are so special and I'm excited to continue to work with them and help them continue to learn and grow.  A ten year old boy that the Elders have been teaching got baptized as well. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas. I had a white Christmas and the snow continues to come down. I feel like I've seen more snow in the past month or two than I have my whole entire life. It's really beautiful though and I'm grateful that a good amount of the time we have a car so it's not too bad being in the cold. 

I am so grateful for the scriptures and how God can speak to us through them. I know that when we search for answers to questions that we have, if we have a true desire to act on the answers, God will tell us what we need to do. Sometimes we don't feel like we are getting specific direction but when we act on true righteous principles that often times we already know then we can trust that what we are doing is something God would want us to do. God does not need to direct us in all things, He trusts us to apply what we learn from the scriptures, prayer, church, our leaders and life experiences and use our agency for righteousness- to serve and love others.

I hope you all have a wonderful week and that you have a fantastic New Year!

Week 63

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been amazing! SO much has happened and when I look back on each day it's hard to believe that everything happened in just this week.

We went on three exchanges this week- which means that we trade companions for 24 hours for the purpose of learning from other sisters and helping each other become better missionaries. We also had a Christmas Gathering with other missionaries in the southern half of the mission. Each zone put together a little spiritual thought/musical number and afterwards we watched Meet the Mormons. I highly recommend it to everyone! Friday evening we had the branch Christmas party and a couple we have been teaching got married as well. It was so awesome and they will be getting baptized with their two daughters this coming Saturday. 

Sunday we had a special Christmas program during Sacrament Meeting, but what I really enjoyed was teaching one of the youth Sunday School classes and getting to spend time in the primary for the last hour. I was reminded of the true reason of the Season and the spirit taught me some things that honestly brought tears to my eyes. I was reminded of the importance of having a personal relationship with Christ and also of the innocence and pureness of children. Also while teaching the youth I learned the importance of teaching better so that when you ask 'why we should do missionary work' the answer won't be 'so we don't get our arms cut off'. Ha I hardly kept myself from just laughing out loud. We had been talking about Ammon and how great of a missionary he was because he served the king and loved his fellow servants and protected them from the robbers who came to steal the sheep by cutting their arms off. So although we should do missionary work, the reason shouldn't be because we want to keep our arms. Our motive should be because we love God and those around us and seek to serve them and help them.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas this week! I love you all and invite you to take some time to evaluate your relationship with Christ and seek to strengthen it by getting to know Him. Study His words and works in the scriptures. I'm grateful for Christ and His love for me and His example that I can do my best to follow.

-Hermana Brighton

Week 62

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been another wonderful week in Yakima! We are working hard and it's been amazing as we have seen how the Lord helps us find those who are more prepared to accept the Restored Gospel.

We've been teaching a family that is just incredible and they are planning on getting their marriage license today so they can get married soon- hopefully this week. They are just incredible and have so much faith, although lately they have had a lot of struggles they still are progressing and they are just awesome. I believe Satan is working really hard against them, yet I know as they continue to act on faith they will come out on top. That is something we all need to remember. In the end those who have had faith in Christ and have made and kept their covenants will be successful and happy. 

Something I've been thinking about a lot is a phrase that came to mind this past week- Endless progression is true joy. The more I've thought about it the more I've liked it and I really believe it's true. I know that it is through the Gospel of Jesus Christ that we can continually progress. We can repent and change and leave things in the past and move forward seeking to become better and more fully follow Christ's teachings. The Gospel is wonderful! :) The Gospel encourages change, yet never changes itself. It will always be the one and true way to eternal joy. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has the permission from God to perform baptisms in the way He wants them done. What a blessing this is and that is why I'm serving a mission- to invite all to come unto Christ and be baptized with His authority and then to continue progressing and becoming better each day.

I hope everyone enjoys these coming weeks before Christmas and that you can share your testimonies of the Restored Gospel and invite others to learn more by meeting with missionaries. I love you all so much!

Love,

Hermana Brighton

Week 61

Dear Family and Friends,

This past week has been awesome. On Wednesday Hermana Bailey and I received a third companion, Hermana Dee. She is from Alaska and is super positive and fun be with. So we will be in a tri-pan until Hermana Bailey goes home on the 18th. In the mean time we are taking full advantage of there being 3 of us and have been getting rides with a lot of the men in our branch since often times they are the ones that are available to drive us places. This allows us to save miles and also let the other sisters use the car more often. For those unaware, as missionaries we have a rule that we have to have a 3rd adult of the same gender in order to get rides from members or go into someone's house, that's why it's SUPER nice being in a tri-pan. :)

There has been a good amount of snow, rain, and slush falling from the sky this week, probably more that I can remember in my whole entire mission. It's good though because we all in this area have been praying for water in this area. God answers the prayers of the faithful.

We have been working with a wonderful family and they have come to Sacrament Meeting these past 2 weeks and are just incredible. The Mom reads in the Book of Mormon and just loves it and makes all kinds of connections to the Bible and to herself. She learns so well on her own and then we are able to just come and aid in the learning process.

There are also a couple other people we have been working with that are progressing well and I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be serving a mission and to be here in Yakima. There are so many amazing things happening and sometimes I ask myself why the Lord has been so merciful as to allow me to be a part of these miracles. I am just so full of gratitude though and I hope to continue to be do all I can to work hard and be faithful in aiding the Lord to carry out His work and help Him fulfill His promises.

I hope we can all have a wonderful week and share the joy we have because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm grateful for this Christmas season and for this special time we have to be able to focus more on the Savior and help others recognize the importance of Christ and what He has done and still can do for us.

Love you all!

Hermana Brighton

Dear Family and Friends,

This Sunday a family we have been teaching for a few weeks came to church and I was so happy!!! :) The parents are just incredible and they need to get married before they can be baptized but there is nothing preventing them from getting married and they are going to work with el presidente de la rama so that they can get married soon. They are both just so ready and everything we teach they fully accept and just love, even the Law of Chastity which they immediately committed to live (though they are still in the same house). They are sleeping in separate rooms, one in the bedroom and one on the couch. At first thought if makes me kinda laugh that they would do that when they are going to get married so soon but really thinking about it, I am amazed by their absolute faith and desire to follow God's commandments. They truly are an example to me, and I love them so much. Along with this family of 5, 2 other investigators came to church, one of which is preparing to be baptized on the 12 of December. It was an amazing Sunday.

As well there were 4 baptisms in our branch on Sunday evening. It was a father who's sons had already joined the church over the past couple years, and then 3 youth in another family, who's parents will hopefully be baptized soon. It was an incredible experience and there were so many people there to support them in the incredible choice they each had taken to be baptized.

After the baptism that night, at seven o'clock there was a fireside at which Alex Boye came and spoke. He has an amazing conversion story and while listening it made me think about how even though each of our stories are different we are all converted to the same gospel. We are here to share our experiences to help one another and to strengthen and encourage each other on the path back to our Heavenly Father. Everyone is unique and different but that is not a bad thing. We need to use our strengths to help others come unto Christ. The fireside went pretty long and we didn't get back until late.

It's been snowing here in Yakima and Tuesday morning during our exercise time we went out and had a snowball fight because it was the first snow fall of the year. Since then it's snowed a couple more times and it will probably start sticking more now, though the snow from Tuesday stuck around all week in places where the sun doesn't hit as much.

Well transfer calls happened this past Saturday. I'll be staying here in Yakima with Sister Bailey but we will also be receiving another Sister because Hermana Bailey will be going home mid transfer in order to be home to go to school in January.

There are so many exciting things happening in our area and I look forward to the coming weeks and the miracles we will see. 

Love you all so much!

Hermana Brighton

week 59

Autumn Leaves, Jesus Doesn't
Dear Family and Friends,

Happy Thanksgiving this week! Hope its wonderful and that you take time to really think about your blessings and even make this a habit throughout the year. 

It is getting colder here and we've had to scrap ice off our car most mornings. As well we've been getting little snow flurries today. We'll see if it ends up sticking at all.

We had stake conference this weekend and I remember that faith was a big topic. I invite all to study it and think about what faith is.

I know that when we have faith in Christ we are able to have hope and be much happier in this life. I'm grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that I can become better each day of my life, each moment even.

I love you all!

Hermana Brighton

week 58

Dear Family and Friends,

I hope everyone had a great week! I don't have a lot of time left this week to write but this week has been busy and full of learning and growing opportunities. I am growing to love my mission more and more every day, even though its hard sometimes. It's worth it. 

We are teaching this incredible family that hasn't come to church yet but I feel like next week will be the week! The mother Carmen is incredible and has been reading the Book of Mormon since we gave it to her and she loves to look up the cross references at the bottom and she has told us she just knows it has got to be true because it's teachings are so similar to the bible and they just go together so well. She just really understands things as we teach and I love it! Hna Bailey and I also had this opportunity of finding people that we referred off to the English missionaries that were just really awesome. We met this one man named Ken while walking down the street at the end of the night and when we invited him to be baptized, he accepted and wanted to come to church and learn more. Hope the Elders get to teach him more.

Well I love you all and wish you a wonderful coming week!

Love,

Hermana Brighton