Monday, June 20, 2016

Happy Father's Day

Dearest Friends and Family,

Happy Father's Day to all of you wonderful fathers out there! I want to say a special Happy Father's Day to my own wonderful father. I love you so much daddy!!! :):)

Well, this week has been great! We have done LOTS of finding!!!! We have quite a few return appointments, so hopefully we start building up the teaching pool here! That's the goal!!! When I came, we had 0 investigators....that will change!!! We WILL go finding and find those people who are prepared!!!

We also had zone conference this last week with Elder Cardon of theSeventy. Wow. That was amazing! That was one of those meetings where what I learned was not said, but more how I felt. I received all the answers I needed. It is so neat to be in the presence of a Seventy.wow, they are truly  men of God. I was so excited to be there! I learned more about my purpose as a missionary and what I need to be focused on here as a missionary. I love this Gospel! I love being a missionary! :)

Gabriela is still on track for baptism, but we had to move the date back a week because she didn't come to church :( It was Stake Conference, and the stake center is 30 minute away....so for her first time, maybe that was a little difficult. She did invite us to her daughter's birtdhday party though! There is SO much potential! TheYW's president came with us to a lesson this last week, and Gabriela's daughter Alison is SUPER excited about all the activities. She's 15,and SO sweet! :) I love being able to teach this wonderful family! We also found another family to teach through Gabriela. They're all family living there in the same apartment complex! The dream is for all 10 or so of them to get baptized and help build up the Cunningham branch! Woot! :) Haha.

there is SO much potential here, and I am so excited to keep working here. I love being a missionary SOOOOO very much!!! :):):) Have a great week everyone!

Love,
Hermana Bringhurst :)

Monday, June 13, 2016

Hello From Cunningham

Dearest Family and Friends,

Well, it has happened! I am finally ina new area!! I will miss Chamblee SOOO much, but I am SO excited for the new opportunity! Cunningham is one of 4 Spanish areas here, and one of 2 FULL Spanish areas. The other two are half and half. I absolutely LOVE it here. It is just like Chamblee, but the area is smaller. There are TONS of houses, not very many apartments, and there are WAY less Hispanics, so finding is a little bit more difficult. The people are so nice! it's like a cute small town here. I love it! Church is REALLY close to everyone, so that makes it really easy! I am with my trainer Hermana
Gallardo again. I had a feeling we would be companions again :) They played a joke on me my second day here. One of the members pretended to be an investigator. Well, I was getting REALLY into the lesson thinking "she's prepared for me! This is why I'm here!" Then she dropped the bomb that she was a member....well, it was funny, but I will admit I was very disappointed. It was funny though, I guess. The members here are SOOO nice! I feel like it's already like my home! I can't wait to work with everyone more!!

We have been doing TONS of finding!! They haven't really been finding here much before because they mostly work with less actives. They haven't had a baptism here (for sisters) since like September....so that will change! We will find the people who are prepared! I have been asking for referrals from all the members, and they are SOOO willing to help! We have return appointments with like 3 families who live next door to members! I thought that these sisters had already
tried these things, but I guess not! There's lots to do here! I can't wait to find all the people prepared for baptism!!

We do have one miracle of this week. We have 2 investigators...a mother and her 15 year old daughter. We taught Gabriela, the mom, this last week, and she accepted to be baptized on the 2nd of July!!! We are SOOO excited! She will most likely come to an FHE with a member tonight! We are SOOO excited!!! :):):)

There are great things coming our way here in Cunningham! Good news is, I'm still in the same Stake as Chamblee, so when we do activities, I will see them! Yay! have a great week everyone! I love you all so much!

Love,
Hermana Bringhurst




Monday, June 6, 2016

Goodbye Chamblee :(

Dearest Family and Friends,

Well, the time is finally here....I am leaving Chamblee after 10 months here. Wow. I can't even believe it actually happened! I was starting to think they forgot about me! I guess not. I am SOOO sad to be leaving, and I will miss a lot of people...but I know I'm going where the Lord wants me to go, and I have SO many wonderful experiences waiting for me there!! :) :) I am SOOO excited! :)

I wanted to share my testimony this week, and what I learned here in Chamblee. I learned to love. I love these people so much, and I am so grateful for the time I had with them. I know without a doubt I was supposed to serve here for this long. it was hard and tried my faith many times, but I'm glad I stuck it through and learned from the experience. I love Chamblee and the people with all of my heart :) I will never forget Hector and Fermin, and how much they mean to me. They will always have a special place in my heart. I know this is the true church. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. I know that we have a loving Heavenly Father who loves each one of us individually. I know He only wants the best for each one of us. I am SOOO grateful for the time I've had here to have my testimony strengthened. I will miss everyone so much, but I will be SOOO excited to go back and visit them :)

I think I forgot to mention last week that we have started a Bible class every week! Woohoo! Only like 2 people come....but that will change!! Chamblee really is growing!!

Also, I wanted to share a neat experience I had this last week. We went to Flor and Rogelio's, and their little 4 year old had run off
and they couldn't find her. We tried to say a prayer with them, but they were too hysterical. My companion and I each said a prayer, then we went out to go and look for her. I prayed the spirit would guide me to her. I had the strongest impression I had to check the leasing office. something was literally pulling me there...however I thought that was dumb and she wouldn't be in there...so I kept walking. Well, moments later, a man came out of the leasing office and said a little girl was in there looking for her mom. I definitely learned my lesson. The spirit guided me there, and I knew it, but did not listen. I have learned to follow EVERY prompting I receive from the spirit.

The area is pretty slow right now, and we don't really have any investigators, BUT we have a lot of potentials, so I see a lot of good things coming to Chamblee really soon!

Thanks for all your love and support! I can't wait to go to a new area and have some new experiences! I love you all! :)

Love,
Hermana Bringhurst

Here are some pictures of people I will miss....








Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Happy 11 months!

Dearest Family and Friends!!!

Hello! Another week has passed here in Atlanta, Georgia. I have almost been in Chamblee for 10 months now! I can't even believe it. The members can't either. It's crazy!!! Transfers are next week...I wonder if I'll stay??

So unfortunately this was another slow week. We have just been trying to visit a lot of people, tract, etc. Not a lot happened this week, and we didn't have any investigators at church. That's okay though!!! Life keeps going. That's what missionary work is all about!!

We did visit a member this week, and her mom is back from Guatemala, so we have someone to teach again! Also, her ex husband has moved to Georgia and temporarily staying with them (he's here so he can be close to his son). So we have another person to teach! He is SO nice! They really want to be a unified happy family! We can help with that!!

We also did a lot of service this week! We cleaned a members' house ALL DAY. It took quite some time, but we had a LOT of fun with her :)

We went to visit a less active, and she is just SO much fun!! She is from Cuba, and she really wants to come back to church! I don't know why I started telling you about her.....maybe just because I love her and she's like a grandma to me :) haha, sorry for the boring story :)

We did visit Raquel this week. She is doing great!!!! SHe really does have a LOT of potential. The members are GREAT friendshippers for her! I can't wait to see what happens with her!!!

Sorry this was a very boring email this week. I just don't want to bore you with the lame details of our normal week. Hopefully  next week i'll have more to talk about! I hope you all lhave an amazing week!

Love,
Hermana Bringhurst :)

Monday, May 23, 2016

The Roller coasters of a Mission

Dearest Family and Friends,

Wow. This week has been a week of ups and downs. The week began with 0 progressing investigators, and no one being home.....then the second half of the week my companion was sick, and so was the other sister in the apartment. SO, for the second half of the week, the other sister and I went on exchanges and did half and half in our areas. that's where the miracles began!!!

We met with Alberto and Alicia. That was the BEST lesson ever!!!!! Alberto and Alicia had both been reading. She now has the app and is going to listen to the scriptures! WOO HOO! Alberto made notes in the back of the scriptures where he had been reading so he could keep track of what he learned and stuff like that. Oh my gosh! Golden investigators!!! Unfortunately they didn't come to church - but they have SOOO much potential! It's SOOO great!!!! :) :)

The other tender mercy of this week was that we were finally able to meet with Rogelio and Flor. They were SO excited to see us! They seemed to be fine with us still teaching them, even though the anti might still be an issue. But they work a TON now so it's hard to meet with them :( but the good news is that they are still in contact with us and they are now defending the church to those who criticize them. so that's the update with them!!

Also one of our less actives came to church for the first time in a couple of months! She's a recent convert of 2 years. she is only less active because of work. Whenever she gets a Sunday off, she comes to church! She really is sad she can't come anymore, so there is hope to reactivate her! It was a great miracle of the week!

Well, sorry I don't have much more to talk about...it's been a slower week, but there is always more coming! I hope my companion starts feeling better soon! Love you all! Have a great week!

Love,
Hermana Bringhurst

Monday, May 16, 2016

Repent and Rededicate

Dearest Family and Friends,

This week was a great one! Honestly! We had SO many meetings, trainings, etc. It was great!

We started off the week at the temple. Our mission president encouraged us to rededicate ourselves to the work in the temple. Apparently we're slacking as a mission, so this training was a "come to Jesus" kind of a thing. The training was amazing! We learned about the importance of obedience, follow up, our purpose, etc. It was amazing!! There was just so much love in the training. Even though it was a "shape up" kind of a meeting - it was all motivated by love. :) It was so amazing. The temple was especially amazing. I felt like I really needed it. Like a lot. It was amazing to feel so close to my Savior. I love the temple :)

We moved apartments this week, so that took up two days this week. What a project! The elders were really nice to help us out. But the new place is BEAUTIFUL and SO much more safe! We now live with another companionship and it's SO fun! They're the sisters in our district - so it's a blast! It definitely helps to have more than just your companion to talk to :) So that's the update of this week!

We also had the new missionary meeting this week. Wow. That was an incredible meeting! I learned SOO much. I felt the spirit SO strong. We talked about the Atonement, and how that applies to us as missionaries, and those we teach. We talked about companionship unity and obedience. President is on an obedience train right now. It's pretty amazing :) Every time I go to these trainings - I am SOO motivated to do what is required of me. It was such a great meeting! We had great discussions. It was cool to hear from the more experienced missionaries, and also the new missionaries. They may be new in the mission - but boy are they STRONG! I learned SO much!

In the way of investigators - not much happened because we were SO busy with meetings. We contacted a lot and found lots of new people to teach - so hopefully that all goes well this week! We did meet with Rogelio and Flor. Apparently they watched a video about Joseph Smith - and it was made by the "anti - Mormon' people. So they are starting tobelieve all the anti. It's SOOO sad. We are broken hearted here. I am VERY sad. But I know it will all work out. Satan is just attacking them - but they'll win! They're too prepared to get sucked in! We'll do all we can. Please pray for them! :)

Saturday was the BEST day ever! We had SO many appointments - but all of them fell through :( We ended up just following the spirit as to what we should do - and we ended up finding 2 families to teach this week! SOOOO exciting! Saturday was just full of miracles! It was amazing! I am finding so much joy in the work!!!! :)

Well, that's about it for this week! I hope you all have an amazing week! I love you all! :)

Love,
Hermana Bringhurst :)

Monday, May 9, 2016

We'll Bring the World His Truth

Dearest Family and Friends,

I don't think I could ever adequately describe to you why it's so great to be a missionary. It's just a feeling you get that you can't get anywhere else...and can't even describe. Wow. I am just filled with so much love at every moment for people I don't even know! That's the love of Christ...and He is kind enough to give me this short amount of time to be His servant. What a privilege. I hope everyone had a great mother's day! I want to give a special shout out to my amazing mom who is everything to me. I love you mommmy! :)

Well, this week was AMAZING! The week started off with an amazing FHE at the Mata family's house. They are SO cute!!!! We played hot potato, and then read a scripture and drew a picture of what we learned from the scripture. it was SO much fun! What a special Monday :)

Our mission president has given us the assignment to contact 15 people every day! Of the 6 or so days this has been implemented, we have only reached 15 on one of those days. That will CHANGE!!! This 15 contacts assignment is really making our finding activities more fun! And we are finding a lot more people to teach! We have quite a few potentials this week, so I'll be excited to report on that next week to everyone!

We have been visiting a member every week to teach her son. He just turned 8, but she wants us to teach him the lessons so he can be more prepared for his baptism. It has been such a neat experience to teach him. He really is so ready for his baptism. The people here in Chamblee really take baptism seriously, and want all their kids to truly be ready :)

We had a sister's meeting for all the sisters in the mission this last week. That was SOOO much fun! It seems that everything they talked about was exactly what I needed to hear. Really. I had been struggling a little this week, and needed an answer - or some sort of confirmation from Heavenly Father that my work here was actually worth something. Well, I got my answer. The conference was all about how all we need to do is try, and the Lord is mindful of us. We had a huge discussion on perfection and how we can never be perfect - but we can strive for it. it was just what I needed. Then that night, one of our members was talking to me right before she came to an appointment with us. Out of nowhere she just started talking about how the lord is proud of me, and He doesn't care about numbers. Wow. It was amazing, and another answer from Heavenly Father that I desperately needed. Thank heavens for the Spirit :)

We did a cool service project this week. We had the opportunity to go to a refugee apartment complex and clean up the area. We got to celebrate with the people, and they fixed us some of their traditional food. It was a humbling experience. I love the opportunities we have to serve here as a misionary. It's incredible :)

We had a mother's day dinner with the branch. The brethren provided the whole thing! They even served our food for us. It was SO sweet! Then each man gave a little speech about women, and then gave his wife a rose. It was precious. Then the young men passed out roses to all the other women. So I got a rose too! itw was SOOOO sweet! What a neat activity :)

So.....the big miracle of the week is that Rogelio and Flor came to church!!!! WOO HOO!!!!! They loved it! I really have faith they will be baptized! Please pray for them! We are visiting them this week with our ward mission leader. We hope it all works out! I love them so much!!!

Well, that was my week! It was amazing! I hope you all have an amazing week too! :)

Love,
Hermana Bringhurst :)