Happy Halloween!

Dearest Family and Friends,

Well, it's been another amazing week here in Atlanta Georgia!!! When is it NOT an amazing week? I just love it here. This week was pretty slow "work" wise, but we got a lot accomplished!!

Zone Conference....we had zone conference this last week and Elder Zwick came to train us with his wife. It was such an amazing conference!!! I learned SOOO much. So, I will just share all the things I learned. We talked about the importance of loving your companion, and the power of studies. It was incredible. I learned that I really need to love my companions the way Christ loves them...they were chosen to be my sisters for this period of time. I am going to try and serve them more this week. I love them both, but I need to love them even MORE! :) I'm very excited to see how our companionship grows this week!! We also learned more about the Atonement, and how we need to wear it on our hearts. I gained such a deeper understanding of the Atonement. It really can help us with anything we are going through....anything. Elder Zwick talked to us about simplicity. We did a training/activity where we picked a Gospel principle in Preach My Gospel, found a small piece of a scripture to back it up, and he randomly selected companionships to go to the pulpit and 1) share the principle 2) share an experience 3) share a scripture and 4) testify. All of that had to be done in about 2 minutes. He really taught us about the strength and power of a testimony when it's short, simple, and to the point. He is really preparing us to be powerful missionaries! We talked about sacrifice as well, and what it truly means to obey the law of sacrifice. We concluded that we need to submit CHEERFULLY to the will of the Lord...always. It was SO powerful. We also talked about dry rot. Wood may look like it's sturdy, but on the inside it is really just dust. He talked about pornography and other sins, and how we need to clear them now so we can be STRONG, and not like the dry rot. We also talked about not plateauing in the mission. It was such a powerful training. I learned SOOO much. Elder Zwick really has a lot of faith in us and wants us to be really amazing misisoanries. I am SO excited!!! The zone conference lasted all day with a 40 minute break for lunch, and a 2 hour break for finding and dinner. We got home around 10 ish. It was a LONG day full of SO MUCH GOOD!! When we went finding, we knocked a random neighborhood. NONE of them spoke Spanish because we weren't in a Spanish area, so we got to try out finding in English! It was SO much fun! A cute older couple let us in the house, and we taught them a small lesson. It was so incredible. I just love being a missionary. :) That night we had a devotional with all the Bishops/Relief Society President's/etc. from various stakes. Elder Zwick talked about how we NEED members. It was SO powerful. So, yes, zone conference was the bomb, in case you were wondering. :)

Members....so this week we really wanted to try and work with members more, like we have been the past couple weeks. But we tried a different approach. We made all the members a Halloween "goody bag" or as the Zone Leader called it....a "bribery bag ;)" and we've been delivering these treats to all the members and less actives. We have been leaving behind a simple message, commitment, and told them we were here if they needed anything. We have REALLY seen a difference. The branch is really starting to love and trust us more. Some of them have even said, "Hey, why haven't you called for us to go on team-ups?" It's AMAZING. The Lord really does prepare a way, as long as we are doing what we should. It's incredible!

Investigators....so not a whole lot has changed from last week. Tonight we are doing an FHE with Abraham and Milagros, and our branch president and his wife!! We also have an appointment with Juan and the first counselor and his wife are coming with us!!!! Miracles all over the place!!!! A funny thing about investigators...we have been giving them "levels of difficulty" Apparently it's associated with Pokémon...but I am unfamiliar with it...but for those of you who do, we have been giving levels. Loupe, the referral from the Brockett sisters used to be a level 3....until she started talking about how she heals the sick when she commands the name of Jesus Christ because of her faith, and other crazy stuff....then we deemed her a level 9....she'll come around!! We know she will be blessed in this Gospel!! But it's been a fun thing we do to talk about the levels our investigators are at. You gotta keep it fun!! ;)

Primary Activity....we had a really fun Primary activity this last week. It was so fun to see all the cute kids in their costumes. We got to help prepare the food and get to know the members more. It was soooo much fun!! The Lord really is providing us with a lot of opportunities to bond with the members. :)

Saturday....this last Saturday was SUPER fun. The Mata family took us out to lunch for Sister Stewart's birthday....and then Alejandro (a member who goes to Brockett ward now....:( ) met us at iHop and we had dinner!! It was SOOO fun. I just love the members!!! This week really has been just a BLAST. I just love it here!

Sunday....so, remember Sally and Jessy? Their mom is SUPER less active.....and guess what? SHE CAME TO CHURCH YESTERDAY FOR ALL 3 HOURS!!!!! It was such a miracle. Sally and Jessy had been praying for that...and their prayers were answered....:) It was so sweet. The members were also super happy yesterday. Everyone just seems to be happier lately! Happiness is just going around!!! Happy happy. We also delivered a lot of the treats on Sunday. It was fun to visit a lot of the members and less actives. I just love being a missionary. It's the best. No joke.

Well, that was my week! It was absolutely incredible and I learned SOO much!!! Thanks for all the prayers and support....OH. We are doing exchanges this week...and the STL's are having me stay BY MYSELF in Chamblee, and my companions are going English. Obviously the STL's don't speak Spanish...so for all of Tuesday and Wednesday....I'll be taking care of the area all by myself....yikes. Wish me luck. I guess the Lord thinks I'm ready...I'm not so sure....BUT I have a lot of faith!!! It won't be perfect....but it will be a great learning opportunity! Love you all, hope you have a great week!

Love,

Hermana Bringhurst