Happy Holidays!

Dearest Family and Friends,

Wow. Can you believe it's the Christmas season? I just love it so much!!! This week has been great! Every week is great though, if you really think about it. This email will probably be shorter, because it was a fairly uneventful week.

The first thing of interest this week was the new missionary meeting. We had to go to special training because Hermana Meneses is a new missionary. It was SO amazing!!! More than anything, I really needed this meeting. We watched a really powerful video on the Atonement, and I just cried. We talked a lot about being our best self, because Heavenly Father called us for who we are. It was absolutely amazing. I have been feeling really discouraged this past week, because it's hard for a white person to completely be accepted in the Hispanic culture here. It's been really tough. This meeting helped me see that Heavenly Father called me here for a reason, and I don't need to be anything different than who I am. It was definitely powerful. I learned so many things!! I was just in tears during the whole meeting. It's amazing to see how Heavenly Father works. He made it possible in every way so that I could be there at that meeting. The video was soooo powerful. I learned that Jesus Christ went through SO much, and if anyone can understand what it's like to be a missionary, it's Him. So, I will always have someone with me every step of the way. It was very powerful.

I actually forgot to tell a story in last week's email. At district meeting 2 weeks ago, all of us sisters went to Chick-fil-A afterwards....because we always do that....and there was a member family there. The father of the family walked up to us and just said, "Hi Sisters!! Lunch is on me!" And he paid for all 5 of us to eat at Chick-fil-A. Holy cow!!! That was absolutely incredible!! How sweet!!! There are angels everywhere looking out for us! It was truly touching. So, that was one of the highlights of November for me. :)

Referrals....so the only thing we really did this week is contact referrals. We got at least 10, and we've been trying to meet with them. We've only found luck with 2 of them, but still haven't been able to have a lesson with them. We'll keep trying, and hopefully something will come of it later!!! We also got rules clarified to us....we have to bring another woman with us to a house where only a man lives there in order to go inside....so Juan can only visit us when he's babysitting his nieces and nephews. So, we've always just taught him on the porch, because we can't go in...well, we've been given clarification that even THAT isn't allowed. So us, and the elders, are in the midst of switching investigators with each other. We're giving them Juan, and we are visiting one of their less actives. So, this week has been a crazy one! It's all good though :)

Hector and Fermin....I thought I'd give an update with them! We had to push Hector's date back to the 19th, because he's been super busy and we haven't been able to meet with him. But Fermin is still good for the 26th!!! WE have such great lessons with both of them, and it's amazing to watch them progress!!! I love missionary work!!!

Nativity Activity....the Atlanta stake had a cool Nativity activity at the church on Sunday. they set up nativities from many differentcountries, and there were musical numbers, refreshments, etc. It was a fun activity. Only 3 ish families from Chamblee came. It was such a fun activity!!

Christmas Devotional....we were able to watch the Christmas Devotional Broadcast last night. Wow. It was absolutely incredible!!! It may be difficult to be away for the holidays, but I always find peace when I think about my Savior. I was definitely reminded of how incredible He is during this broadcast. He is what Christmas is all about. I love my Savior. It was such a beautiful devotional. The musical was really touching!! There was a family there that I had the opportunity to eat dinner with during exchanges, and they remembered me!! They even went out to their car to grab me a plate of cookies! How sweet is that??? Oh, there are sooooo many little things that happen to me that just bring a smile on my face. :)

My heart is full of love and joy during this Christmas season. I love my Savior. I am grateful for His example and His light in my life. I pray that I may remember Him throughout this month, and keep that spirit within me after the holidays. I love being a missionary. I love this Gospel, and I love all of you. I hope y'all have a great week! Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas!! Be sure to watch the new Christmas Video "A Savior is Born!" Share it with everyone!

Love,

Hermana Bringhurst