Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust

Dearest Family and Friends,

Wow. Another great week in Chamblee, Georgia. Can I just say how much I love it here? It's SOOOO green, and beautiful!! Utah will seem like a complete DESERT when I get home! But seriously, I absolutely love it here. Every day is not perfect if you look at every single thing that went wrong...but, if you focus on why you're here and what you're doing and WHO you're doing it for....every day is like a perfect day at Disneyland....no joke...maybe even Disneyworld! ;)

So, I'm going to explain the subject line. I was thinking back on this week and what I wanted to share, and of course the baptism came to my mind....more on that later, and I realized that we really didn't teach a lot of people, no one is really progressing, and I had no awesome stories to tell. BUT, then I started thinking about what I learned this week. I learned that I need to have faith and trust in my Savior, and Heavenly Father. We had a whole day FULL of amazing appointments. These appointments were CRUCIAL. We had an AMAZING study session together, and we were ready to go out and kill it! Then...all of them cancelled. We thought, What are we doing wrong?? Then we decided to go knocking in this apartment complex. We prayed for a miracle. We knocked 6 doors....5 answered...we got 5 new investigators....holy holy holy holy holy HOLY cow. It was the most AMAZING day of my life. It made me realize that Heavenly Father knows better than we do what needs to happen in our day. Maybe our scheduled appointments that day weren't ready to hear our message? Maybe the people in the apartment complex needed it more that day? Who knows - Heavenly Father. Not me. I'm merely the instrument for HIS work. So, here's how this applies to this Peter Pan quote. I was thinking about how Wendy, John, and Michael really wanted to fly. Peter told them they needed to think happy thoughts, have faith, and trust. They did just that. They did everything in their power to fly, and they BELIEVED. Peter was there with them the whole time...encouraging, reminding them, etc. He let them fall off the bed a couple times, but he was there. Then....he sprinkled some pixie dust, and they flew. They believed they could fly BEFORE the pixie dust...thus why Peter gave them the pixie dust...then they headed to Neverland. I thought about how I needed to trust and have faith that my Savior would help me and provide a way for me on this mission....and He's been with me every step of the way. He's cheering me on, encouraging me, and even letting me "fall off the bed" sometimes. But when the time is right, He sprinkles that "pixie dust" on me, and the work SOARS. I know this analogy is a stretch....and it's a little cheesy, but hey, I was in a Disney mood ;)

Baptism.....It was the BEST!!!! It was a little stressful at first. The church didn't have jumpsuits, so we had to run to another one. Then, the girls showed up 30 minutes late, then we didn't know there was a form to fill our for baptism...so that was stressful. It's our first baptism, no one told us about a form....ahhhh! It was so stressful! BUT, when those two sweet, precious, and pure little girls came out of the dressing room in their white clothes, the spirit flooded the room. We had a beautiful meeting. Elder Taufa baptized them. When those two each came out of the water....they just glowed. They kept saying, "I'm clean, I'm clean. The water was so nice. I wish I could do it again!" It was so sweet. It was by far the best experience I've had so far on my mission. And I cannot wait to have more. To see the light of Christ in their eyes was an inexpressible joy. I thank Heavenly Father every minute for giving me the opportunity to be a part of their baptism. It was incredible.

Investigators....so we didn't teach too much this week, and we actually didn't teach hardly any of our progressing investigators. So I only have 3 people to talk about.

Walter: He is the sweetest man in the world. Hands down. He is always SO kind to us. He hasn't come to church yet...even though he pinkie promised!! What a bum....;) I know he will come eventually. I KNOW it. We surprise visited him, because that always seems to work the best. We had a GREAT lesson with him. We told him that our church was the church for him. He said he only knew a little...he'd only read a little...etc. Then I shared with him the scripture about how by small and simple things are great things come to pass....and that really touched him. I think he has more faith now that our church REALLY can help him. We'll keep trying, and praying!! He also tells me that my Spanish is getting better! Yay! :) All the investigators are slowly talking to me more, and actually looking at me in the lesson. I'm still nodding and smiling 40% of the time because I have NO idea what's going on. BUT, I'm slowly gaining their trust.

Sobida: We've only taught her twice. Me, only once. She doesn't believe in the Book of Mormon, only the Bible. That day, we had actually talked about chapter 5 in Preach My Gospel for District Meeting, so that was a miracle. We were REALLY ready to teach her. I looked her straight in the eye, and bore testimony of the Book of Mormon, and how it can help her. She agreed to read it and pray about it. WHOA!!! I have a testimony that the Book of Mormon really can change lives :)

Lucino: Oh dear. THIS was a tough lesson. We had a "come to Jesus" with him. He's been taught for 3 years....he knows everything, he just won't ACT on anything until.....his dreams tell him to. WHAT??? So, we need to help this man have faith in other means of revelation. So, we read 2 Nephi 32 with him. It was seriously 1 whole hour of us testifying, pleading, inviting him, and everything else you can imagine. It was the most intense lesson I've ever been in. I know he felt something. He agreed to try and ask for real. I asked him if he'd ever asked through prayer if the missionaries' messages were true. He said no. He has never truly prayed. He always waits for a dream. Now, he said he'd try. Wow. We also asked the Elders to talk to him this week as well. We're going to get him! I know it! He's almost ready!

English Class.....so, we teach an English class at our church every THursday night. It's super fun actually! I'm a horrible teacher, but it's still fun :) It's a great way to serve, and it's a great opportunity to get some interaction with the less actives! So, even in America, we teach English lessons :)

Jimmy.....THIS was a cool story. We were leaving English class, and there was this nice man sitting on the couch. He stopped us as we were walking and asked us if we'd seen President Sullivan. He said he was waiting for him because he needed some help. He's from Alabama, and he and his fiancée had been living out of their car for the past 2 weeks. He's been working 2 jobs. A nice family in Stonemountain agreed to take them in to help them get on their feet. He needed some money for gas to get there. My heart just ached for him. There was a part of me that questioned the validity of his situation, but it didn't matter. I was a missionary, and he had come to our church building for help. And we are the kind of people who help. We tracked down our branch president and he agreed to help. We prayed with Jimmy, got his info to refer to the English missionaries, and that was it. What a cool experience. It's those little things throughout the mission that make it SO worth it to be here :)

Well, that is it for this week. I may not have a lot of cool stories (we did have 2 more cockroaches...;) ) but I did learn a lot. I  love you all SO much. I hope you have an amazing week! I'm always thinking about you! :)

Love,

Hermana Bringhurst

Cockroaches, Celebrities, and Miracles!

Dearest family and friends,

Wow!!! What an amazing week this has been!!! :) Can I just say....what a blessing it is to be a missionary! I LOVE this calling. I LOVE being here. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Honestly. I'm the luckiest girl in the whole world right now because I get to be here...in Atlanta...representing Jesus Christ. What could be better?? Not even Disneyland...nope. Not even.

Cockroaches....okay, so I figured first I would explain the subject of this email. So, you know how I've become the designated bug killer of this companionship? Yeah, well there was a GIANT cockroach in our kitchen on Sunday morning.  My companions took one look at it, and ran away. So, it was my job to kill the beast. Alright....so, my plan was to trap it in a box, and take it outside. My companions filmed me doing so. I had to get up on our kitchen table, and surprise it with an aerial attack. I succeeded, and the beast was gone. To all those who think I'm a wimp and can't handle bugs....TAKE THAT!! :) I just thought I'd let you all know...oh, and I killed a spider...a large spider. Yep. This companionship was inspired.m  It's helped me get over my fear of bugs ;)

Celebrities...so, on Sunday (yesterday) our stake president visited our sacrament meeting. I had to play the piano for sacrament meeting because no one in the branch plays piano. So, I was looking at the stake president from behind. I recognized his name sort of, and he looked familiar. Why on earth would a stake president in Atlanta Georgia look familiar to me? So after the meeting, we went to greet one of our investigators. I turned around and saw the stake president walking down the aisle. I said hi, he said hi...and then it hit me. MY STAKE PRESIDENT IS THE BISHOP FROM THE MEET THE MORMONS MOVIE!!!!!!! Of course now he's a stake president. But it's him. Jermaine Sullivan, if that's how you spell his name. After church, I totally got to shake his hand and talk to him. BOOM. I cannot believe that this happened!! It was my secret dream to meet the bishop from the movie, since he's from Atlanta. But I thought the chances were slim because Atlanta is huge. So, yeah. He's my stake president in my first area. That's pretty cool.

Miracles...okay. This week has been absolutely amazing. I don't think I could've chosen a better time to come on a mission. We've seen so many miracles this week. Before I came, my companions didn't have very many investigators, and a lot of people weren't answering their calls...so they just tracted a lot. After I came, the fruits of their labor started to show. In just one week, at least 5 investigators who stopped talking to us for weeks, even months, started picking up and agreeing to meet with us!! I have two stories. One of them was a man named Lucino. He has been listening to the missionaries for 3 years.  He knows everything and he has a strong testimony. He just won't get baptized because he thinks he needs to get married first. Sad day. Then out of nowhere he just stopped answering. Nothing. He dropped off the face of the earth. They tried for weeks upon weeks to get in contact again. But still nothing. THEN, out of nowhere...he answered our call AND he invited us to dinner at his house. HOLY COW!!! It was absolutely amazing!!! He also called us again this week, and he wants us to come to dinner AGAIN! He works all the time and when he isn't working he's sleeping and preparing to work again. So, he has a day off, and he chose his day off to invite the missionaries. Wow. Amazing. Second story: There is a less active named Rosa. She did the same thing, just stopped answering our calls. It was sad. Then, out of the blue, she answered and agreed to meet with us. HOLY COW AGAIN!! So, we went to meet with her, and we were super nervous, because we wanted the lesson to go PERFECT. Then, while we were just getting to know her, she said that her 2 oldest boys age 12 and 11 had already been baptized. But John age 9 hadn't yet...and she wants him to be baptized. So, she had all 4 of her boys, and her little 16 month old girl sit and hear our lesson - their entire family, at the request of their mother. Wow. We taught them the Restoration...and John said he wanted to be baptized. He asked his mom, she said yes, and we have him on date. Wow. Miracle after miracle after miracle. I can't even believe it. Next miracle. We went on exchanges this last Friday and apparently it's really early to do them right now...but they happened. So, the sister trainers decided to leave Hermana Stewart and me here with Sister Lund, and Sister Gallardo went with Sister Olsen to English speaking. I. Was. Terrified. Hermana Stewart has only been out for 8 weeks and I've only been out for almost 2. We DID NOT know enough Spanish to teach by ourselves for a whole day. I was scared out of my mind. I had to keep telling myself that it was the Lord that wanted it to happen this way for some reason. So, I prepared. Holy cow. Exchanges were amazing. I was able to understand every word and say everything that I wanted to say. All my studies that morning were directed exactly to the needs of everyone we taught that day. It was incredible. I realized that day that I didn't need Sister Gallardo. I didn't need a fluent speaker to "save" me when I got stuck. I only need the Lord. The Lord showed me that day that I can do it...even if it's not perfect...I can do it. I also was feeling before that the people we taught only liked us because Sister Gallardo was fluent, but after exchanges, I realized it wasn't true. They loved all of us. They loved us because of the Spirit. They felt the spirit every time we taught. Whether it was perfect Spanish, or broken Spanish, the spirit was the same. That was a lesson I needed to learn. And I needed to learn it right away. So, this week was INCREDIBLE!! :)

Investigators...Well, I know our investigators a little better, so I'll talk about the ones that I've grown really close to. Let's start with Walter. Oh how I love Walter!! He has a sweet wife, and children. A FAMILY. Boom. Walter is amazing. He always talks to us about what he thinks a church should have...and he basically describes our church. I can feel how ready he is. I love teaching him. He listens super intently, and truly desires to learn more. And he even reads the Book of Mormon. He expresses some concerns, but he's always willing to learn more, and learn why what he thinks may not be true. The Hispanics favorite thing to say is "I have church inside...I keep it in my heart...I don't need to go...it's in here." It's super frustrating. BUT. Walter now believes that GOING to church could be important, and he's willing to try it out. He is SO amazing. I wish you could just see his smile when he feels the spirit. Next is Hilda and Antonio. They are from Peru, oh Walter is from Guatemala. Hilda and Antonio have the CUTEST little kids. ANOTHER FAMILY. Hermana Gallardo found them before I came. She was taking out her trash, and struggling a little, so Hermana Gallardo helped out...and then they started taking lessons. They heard pretty much all of them. The only thing they lacked was a testimony of the Book of Mormon. Then, all of a sudden, they stopped returning our calls...and disappeared. It was heart breaking. THEN a couple in the branch befriended them, invited us all to dinner, and they got reactivated. The whole family even came to church yesterday!!!! MEMBERS ARE THE BEST!!! We need more member missionaries in the church. They do SO much. So, they are an amazing couple. Next is a lady named Dalia. She is a less active, but her kids aren't baptized. She hasn't agreed to meet with us, but the missionaries have been working with her kids for 3 years now. They are 15, 13, and 11 years old. The elders are teaching them with us too. They are such sweet kids...and I know they feel the spirit and know this church is true. They just need to find their own testimonies, and be willing to give up some things to make church a priority. But, we are working with them. :) Next is Guadalupe. She is SO sweet. She also has a really hard life. Her daughter was killed by her daughter's husband....so she has become the mother of her grandchildren. One of her grandchildren lives in Mexico, the other is 4 and lives with her, and the other is 12 and lives with friends and is into drugs and all that stuff. Guadalupe really feels like she can't be a good mother, and she desperately wants these kids to have a good life. My heart aches for her. She's worried she'll get too old, and can't take care of the little 4 year old. She really needs the church. Desperately. We've taught her quite a few times, and she's quite receptive. She just needs to have faith that following through with the commitments will actually bless her. Wow, I just love all of our investigators. All of them. We currently have 11 progressing right now. It keeps us busy :) I just love watching these people grow, and change. It's amazing. It's also heartbreaking when they don't come to church. Just heartbreaking. You want SO bad for them to come...and then they don't. It truly hurts. You grow to love them SO much, and you want them to feel the spirit in church, and it's so hard when they don't come! But then you just work really hard, and try again the next week. Missionary work is incredible. :)

Little things go a long way - What I've learned is that a simple prayer, or a smile can truly make the difference. We had just finished dinner at a member's house, and we were walking to our car and saw a scary man with tattoos sitting in his car. I thought, wow he's scary, he'd never talk to us. But I just said hi anyway, he said hi back and asked how I was doing. I responded quite enthusiastically that I was doing great. It caught him off guard, and he just laughed and said he was glad that I was so happy. Then it got us talking. He said that his older brother had just passed away, and the whole family was at his house packing up his things. We said a prayer with him, and that was that. It was absolutely incredible. Just a simple prayer gave him more faith in his situation. It was awesome. We were at Wal-Mart getting fruit...because we eat WAY too much starch....and this lady at the checkout was just tired of being at work. We started talking to her, and it totally made her day happier. We made jokes, and told her we hoped she enjoyed the rest of work. It's things like that that make all the difference. People aren't super nice in the line at the grocery store, but when you make an effort to smile, and say hi, it truly makes a difference. We are always representing Jesus Christ, whether we are saying prayers, teaching lessons, or saying hi, or even smiling. We represent Him. A little goes a long way.

Dinosaur museum - so the last thing is the dinosaur museum. Last week for P-Day we went to one in Sandy Springs. Okay. That was the most boring thing I have ever been to in my life.....period. Yikes. It didn't even hold a candle to the one by our house at Thanksgiving point. When we first went I was thinking, hey we should come back when I visit my mission! Then....I was like...nope. Good thing we're going bowling today! Woot woot!

Anyway, that's all I have for this week. If you have specific questions, let me know. I'd be glad to answer them. I love you all so much! Thank you for your prayers and support!

Love,

Hermana Bringhurst

Dinosaur Museum

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Arby's!!!  Yahoo!!!!

Hi y'all ;)

My dearest family and friends,

Well, here I am....in GEORGIA!! I'm finally a REAL missionary. It's insane! There is SO much to tell!!!!

Travel - okay, this was one of the BEST parts of my day. My plane was delayed an hour, so me and the other two missionaries decided to...well...be missionaries. So we started talking to this guy, and he accepted a Book of Mormon. Dude. That was cool. I was surprised he understood our Spanish. It was really fun though. That was my first experience of being a real missionary. So, I arrived in Georgia, and after I went through customs, all the other sisters who arrived the same day came and met me. I was the only Spanish sister of the 6 of us. We drove to the chapel where we usually meet that is by the mission home, and we were greeted by our wonderful Mission President and his sweet wife. Sister Mason (the mission nurse who picked me up) told me that President was really excited to meet me! Apparently it's because I'm a Spanish missionary.  There are only 5 total sisters, and 6 total elders in the whole mission that are Spanish. Wow. That is NOT what I expected. So they were really excited when I came. We spent the whole evening doing "new" missionary stuff. Then, all us sisters got to spend the night with the Haskins. He is the stake president of the stake by the mission home. That was SO fun. Their house is HUGE. They live in a forest....no joke. It's beautiful.

Georgia....wow. It's GORGEOUS here. There are trees....everywhere. Georgia is pretty much a giant luscious forest. It's also very humid. It's always 80ish degrees...but it feels WAY hotter than that. It's beautiful though. It's also very flat.  I miss the mountains :( It's all good though. The people here are SO nice. You literally can walk up to people and say "hello, we represent Jesus Christ, and we would like to pray with you." they'll say "Awh! I love Jesus! Praise Jesus! Yes, yes, let's pray. Let's all pray!!" Then we'll pray and leave a blessing with them. It's amazing. We went grocery shopping last week and ran into this lady and helped her with her shopping cart. Imagine her speaking with the most black/southern accent you can imagine. "Y'all were sent here by God...God sent you here to pray with me, and tell me everythin is gonna be alright. Praise God. Praise y'all. Let's pray" Then we all held hands, prayed, and got her number to refer her to the English missionaries. Crazy sauce. These people love Jesus. They are SO open to listening. This mission is incredible.

Companions - so I am in a trio, since there are only 5 sisters. My trainer's name is Hermana Gallardo (guy-yar-doe) and Hermana Stewart has only been here a transfer so she is still being trained. Our area is called the Chamblee area. It covers about 9 area's worth of English missionaries. Since there are so few Spanish missionaries we teach SO many people. It's insane! We teach at least 4 lessons a day in their apartments and then we call and have other lessons in between travelling to other appointments. Wow.

Teaching - holy cow. It's incredible. We currently have 9 progressing investigators and at least 12 less actives we are working with and about every other day we meet someone new through street contacting, or a referral from someone we are currently teaching. We are SO busy. It's insane! I love it though. It helps me to be busy. Sally and Jessy are twins, both 9. They are going to get baptized on the 29th of August. Wow. What a way to start a mission!! Their mom was a member, but now she doesn't go, so we've been working with her kids, and they've been on date now for a couple weeks. They are SO excited, and the branch helps get them to church every week. They are the CUTEST things on this whole planet. The parents don't know English but the kids do because they learn in school. They actually prefer English. So yay! I get to actually understand what is going on! I would explain every investigator but I don't know them that well since I've only been here for 6 days so I will talk about the people more next week.

Language - struggle. That's all I'm going to say. I thought I could at least teach a lesson...but no. When both your companions know the language fluently, you just kind of sit there and smile - it's challenging. Really. I know I don't need to know the language, and I know everyone says that your mission is not about how well you know the language but when your companions are fluent you can't talk at all. You can't contribute very much. The only times I've contributed are when I specifically ask for the chance to talk, or interrupt them. But I feel like interrupting drives away the spirit. It's hard. Being in a trio is hard. I don't have a desk or a bed since I awkwardly joined in, but it's okay. I'm not at home very often, and I'm here to work, not be best friends with my companions. I'm sure when I learn the language better I will be able to contribute more. I do have one cool story. Since I'm the new missionary, I have to invite someone to baptism in my first week. So, we were teaching Ana, she's a referral from Salt Lake. I told myself I'd only ask her to be baptized if the spirit told me. During the first lesson, we were talking about the 3 gifts, and the path to eternal life. When we were talking about baptism, I knew I needed to ask her...but I didn't because I thought that was dumb to ask her on the first lesson. Then we moved on. I had this awful feeling of guilt. I heard a voice tell me that I needed to ask her to baptism before we left so at the end, my companions were going to ask if we could close with a prayer. I stopped them, and in the best Spanish I could I said, "I know my Spanish isn't good. But, I know one thing. This gospel is true, and what we've said today is true. We can make it back to live with our Father in Heaven again. WE can do that through baptism...." And then I invited her to be baptized. She said she would after she learned more and prayed about it. Wow. It wasn't the most mind blowing spiritual experience of my life, but I do know one thing. I understood 90% of the lesson. I didn't say anything until the very end...but I understood, and the spirit was with me. That was absolutely incredible. I may not be super close with my companions, or any of the ward members for that matter, but I do have a friend here, and that's the Holy Ghost. That's all I need. Relationships with the people will come with time. But I've learned this week how important the Holy Ghost is.

Food - oh dear. So, I was excited to come back to the United States so I could get a break from the CCM Mexican food.   I must have forgotten that just because I'm in the US, doesn't mean I will be eating American food. I should have prepared better. My first meal here was fish, rice, beans, spicy salsa, etc. It was a whole fish. The whole flipping fish - Just staring at me on the plate....eyeballs and all. Yikes! Every meal after that was something spicy...something with beans and rice...and something with tortillas. My body cannot tolerate this food. I don't know why. It just can't. My stomach, lips, and mouth are BURNING after every meal. It's honestly a great learning experience for me. It really is. It's made me appreciate what I have, and also be grateful for these sweet and humble people that fix us food. I'm truly blessed! Maybe my emails in the future will include my love of the food....hopefully.

Branch - we serve in the Chamblee branch. Only about 50 people...if that...come every Sunday. It's really small. Our district leader is Elder Taufa, and his companion is Elder Cruz (he was the one that came with me from the MTC...I know someone!!!) They are Spanish Elders. They serve with us in the Chamblee branch. It's super fun. These people are SO sweet. It's a completely different world here. I was worried that I wouldn't be submersed in the language...but BOY was I wrong. Every apartment I go to is a mini Mexico. These people just gather in various places, and that's where we serve. Driving from place to place is definitely America...but once we knock on the door....it's Mexico, or Guatemala, or El Salvador, or whatever. It's crazy!! :) I love it so much!!

Well, I cannot WAIT to have more experiences. It's absolutely amazing to be in lessons with real people. Watching them feel the spirit, and change their lives. It's incredible. Simply incredible! I have a strong testimony of missionary work. This week has NOT been easy, but I've certainly learned a whole lot. And I can't wait to learn more!!!! :) I love you all, thank you for your support!!

Love,

Hermana Bringhurst

Safe in Atlanta

Dear Brother and Sister Bringhurst,

  

It was a pleasure to greet your daughter at the Atlanta airport yesterday and welcome her to the Georgia Atlanta Mission as a full time missionary. She looks great! She will have a wonderful adventure as she experiences the miracle of seeing lives transformed by the truths of the gospel. She will love the warm, faith filled people of Georgia. This experience will bless her life on so many different levels. 

She has been assigned her first companions, Sisters Gallardo and Stewart, who will be wonderful trainers. Her first area will be in Chamblee.

  

We promise to watch over her in love and do all in our power to help her be a happy, successful and safe missionary and to find joy in her service here in the Georgia Atlanta Mission. 

This is an exciting time for your whole family. You will share in the joys and challenges of mission life through her weekly emails home to you. Please write her an uplifting, encouraging weekly email that will help build her faith. This is so important for a missionary!

We have attached a photo taken with your daughter on her first day in the Georgia Atlanta Mission.

With great love and appreciation for sending us your wonderful daughter,

President and Sister Foote

Georgia Atlanta Mission

Breakfast at a member home the next morning

Last Week at the CCM!!! :)

Dearest family and friends,

Wow. Can you believe it? I've been out for over a month now. Time really flies here on a mission. Soon I'll be IN THE FIELD!!!!!! I am beyond excited. Okay, this last week wasn't too incredibly exciting, but I have a few things I can highlight.

Teaching - we started a new investigator this last week. Hermano Romero chose to play Abinadi Galvan, someone he taught on his mission. He has a family, and they aren't members, but he was a member but just doesn't go to church. I mean, his name is Abinadi for crying out loud - he knows about the church. It was interesting to teach someone who knows everything about the church.  We simply need to help him find his testimony again, and bring his family along. It's definitely helpful to teach someone like him. We are going to be seeing all kinds of situations like his, so it's been really helpful. We are also teaching each other now in the afternoon. So I teach Elder Pogroszewski, and he chose to be his.....you got it....less active member. It's so hard....but it's good practice. We won't always be teaching people who know nothing about the church. I chose to play my good friend Arden before she got baptized. It's been really fun to re-live her experience of being baptized. Also, for the nighttime teaching, when it wasn't Hermana Kivett and I's turn to teach, Hermano Romero wanted us to be in the lesson with him and play his two daughters. It was the coolest experience of my life!!! It really helped to watch the elders teach us, a family, and it helped me see what kind of missionary I want to be, and also see teaching from the investigator's perspective. It was SO fun!!

Funny story - so, my biggest fear was spilling my tray of food on myself while in the comedor.  I knew that if I had this fear, it would come true. So it did. Hermana Kivett and I were trying to pull apart a banana and in the struggle, my bowl of cereal spilled all over me - wow. It was soooo embarrassing. My good friend Alejandro couldn't stop laughing!! He was trying to teach me the word for peach, and then I spilled...yup. That's me for you.

Tongue Twisters - like in America, the latinos have tongue twisters, but them call them trabajo lenguas, or something like that (language work). It's really hard!!! It's supposed to help us with our pronunciation. It really does help. One of the words is parangaracuticimicuero....or something like that. IT'S INSANE!!! But I love it!!

Service Project - For our last service project, we got to work in the COMEDOR!!! Who got to make brownies?????? I GOT TO MAKE BROWNIES!!!!!!!! It was so fun to be able to cook in a kitchen. You don't realize what you're grateful for until you don't have it. It was also fun to spend lots of time with all of my good friends in the comedor. They even let me lick the bowl!!! Best day ever. No joke.

Sacrament Meeting - It was yet another fast sunday here, which meant bearing our testimonies. I've really been trying to bear my testimony whenever there is an opportunity. It strengthens my testimony, and it helps me learn Spanish. Win win!! I really do love Sunday. I also got to play the EFY medley for our district to sing during sacrament meeting. It was so much fun! The spirit was so strong!! President Gomez even brought his family that Sunday, so it was fun to sing for his family. I really love President Gomez. He is such a sweet man, and he sacrifices a lot to be with us every Sunday. All the people here sacrifice so much for us.

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has been a continual support to me while I've been here at the CCM. I can truly feel your prayers. Thank you for sending packages, letters, and love. My testimony has truly grown while I've been here. I really can't even describe it. I've grown so much. I am grateful for the opportunity I've had to be in Mexico. I love the people here. I see everyday how hard they work, and everything they sacrifice for us missionaries. My branch president wakes up at 5 every morning to be with us on Sunday. My morning teacher has to take a 2 hour bus ride to get here. These people sacrifice everything to train the army of missionaries here. I am grateful every day for their sacrifice. The CCM has truly been my home. Truly. It has never felt like a prison. Ever. I absolutely love it here. i have a testimony of this gospel. I know it's true. I know it with every fiber of my being. Thank you for everyone who has made it possible for me to be on a mission. I love you all!!

Prestos todos prestos!! To Georgia!!!

Love,

Hermana Bringhurst