The Holidays are Here!

Dearest Family and Friends,

Happy Holidays!!! Can you believe Christmas is right around the corner?? I am beyond excited!!!! There are a couple houses that have some lights turned on, but only a couple. It's beginning to look like Christmas!! Well, this week has been absolutely AMAZING!!! I can't even begin to describe how amazing it has been!!

First off, we had 2 amazing lessons with 2 amazing investigators. The first is named Hector. He is the boyfriend of one of our strongest members. They want to get married in the temple one day!! Hector really wants to get baptized. He has come to church quite a bit, but he travels a lot, so we haven't really been able to teach him. Well, he is finally back for good!! So, we were finally able to meet with him and teach him the first lesson. Yay!! he absolutely loved it. He agreed to be baptized!! So, we have an incredible baptism taking place on December 12th! Yay!!! He even prayed for the first time!! Zoraida (the member) was just crying! There was such a sweet spirit! I am SOO lucky to be able to be a part of this! The second is Fermin. I think I've talked about him. (His name is pronounced "fair-mean") He is the one who is going through a mighty change right now. He has been coming to church for himself, and taking the lessons as well. We taught him the Restoration, and he loved it. He needs to be taught really simply. For 2 weeks, he wouldn't pray. He just wouldn't. It's really hard to get him to keep his commitments. But, something changed in him this past week. He is so different. He has a different light about him. We had a lesson with him in a member's home. It was so great! We decided to teach simply, and just teach him about faith. It was a great lesson! WE invited him to baptism, and he said yes. He said a genuine yes. He said he'd really been thinking about it for a long time, but he just needed help to get there. We told him we were here! We gave him the date of December 26th to prepare. He has agreed. Wow. Can you believe it?? I certainly can. He is so ready. He has really changed.

He has friendshipped the young single adults in the branch, and has totally changed his friend circle. It's incredible to watch. He is absolutely amazing. We are going to help him every step of the way. He also prayed for the first time in his life during the lesson! The first time ever!! It was so sweet! He had the biggest smile on his face! Wow. I am so so so so so so lucky to be here!!!!!!!

Thanksgiving....I had the BEST thanksgiving  ever!!!! My mom sent me a package to help me make a Thanksgiving dinner! No one invited us over.....sad day.....so I cooked a real Thanksgiving dinner! It was the whole 9 yards!! It was the best meal I've ever had!! The Sandy Springs Sisters also didn't have anyone to go to, so they came over! We put on Christmas music and ate the best meal of our entire lives! What a great day!!! Thanksgiving is such a wonderful holiday. We all took turns saying what we're grateful for. It was amazing to just sit and talk about our blessings. We truly are blessed! I just love the holidays!!!

Leticia.....so remember our awesome referral?? Yep, she's awesome. We went to teach her twice this last week. The first time we taught her, she was talking a lot about her family are all members, and how she went with them to church when she was little....mmmmm? We kind of got this feeling that she was a member herself. So we texted her and asked. Well, yep......she's a member. She hasn't been to church in 26 years though. Wow. so she's very less active. Heavenly Father led us to one of his really lost sheep!! She was going to come to church yesterday, but she was DEATHLY ill. But, she lives in the same complex as our Assistant Ward Mission Leader...so he can take her anytime! Her daughter isn't a member, and is TOTALLY willing to drive her to church. Her daughter is super interested when we come over! This is a wonderful window of opportunity! So, that was our big news of the week. :)

Fasting....so we visited one of our less actives this past week. She doesn't want to come to church because she always feels guilty when she comes because she's not living according to the Gospel. It's been hard to work with her. But she's changed a lot! She used to be so sad! Now, she is so happy! We simply have to go to her house, present a topic or scripture, and ask her thoughts, then the spirit touches her heart, and she talks it out to us and figures out the answer on her own! We only need to bring the spirit. She's amazing. She said she wanted to fast, and we offered to fast with her. We did a 24-hour fast with her. It was incredible! The cool part of the story is this.....we specifically fasted to find a family to teach (all of our progressing investigators are 40 year old men...we need to find some families!!) So we started our fast at 6, and at 7 we went to visit a referral in East Point. Well, the lady answered the door and invited us in. Guess what? She has 5 kids!!!! there was our family!!!!!!!!!! We were sooooo excited!!! The power of fasting is real!! It was so incredible. The Lord is truly blessing us!!

Wow. It's been a great week! There is SOO much going on!!! SO much! I am grateful for this opportunity I have to be a missionary. I truly am. I am so grateful for this Holiday season! Thank you all for your love and support. I love you all so much! Have a great holiday season!

Love,

Hermana Bringhurst

Yummy

Happy Thanksgiving

Dearest Family and Friends,

Can you believe it's Thanksgiving this week??? And Christmas right after that?? I can't believe it!!! The holidays are here!!!! I wish there was snow here, it's hard to get into the holiday spirit without the snow! I just love the holiday season! Maybe more people will be willing to hear our message!!! :)

So, a bit of news to start out. Sister Meneses' visa came. It came about a week ago. She is staying until the end of the transfer. So, she will be leaving on December 14th. I am SO sad!!! I know the Lord wanted her here for this short amount of time for a reason. She had definitely made an impact on me! And also the people we are teaching. I am going to miss her a lot. :(

Temple/Zone Training....so we got to go to the temple this last week!! That's always my favorite! It's such a great time for me to get spiritually rejuvenated, and also to receive revelation for my investigators. It's truly a sacred place. I especially love being there with all of the missionaries. There is such strength in the session! My companions and I were the last sisters in the celestial room, and we were just surrounded by the Priesthood. It was such a neat feeling to be in such a sacred place with so many worthy men who hold the priesthood. I just love the temple. :) We had a GREAT time training with our zone. We talked about working with the members. We sure talk about this a lot. That means it's super important!! We also got trained on this new system they're implementing in the cars. it's called TIWI. It's a mission driver accountability program. It's a little box attached to our windshield, and it monitors our speed, seatbelts, etc. It's incredible. We each have a card and have to sign in every time we drive. If we speed, it turns red and says "check your speed" and you have 15 seconds to slow down before it marks it on your record. It also monitors aggressive driving (breaking too hard, turning too fast, etc) so the goal is for all of us to be safe drivers, and be in the "green" zone. This is supposed to save the church a lot of money, and prevent accidents from happening. It's very scary and intimidating, but it's keeping us safe!!

Headquarters Referral....so we received an AWESOME referral this last week from church headquarters. This lady lived in Mexico, and was taught by the missionaries. Then she moved here and has lived here for 26 years without ever going to church! I guess now she's decided she wants to hear the missionaries again! Her uncle is a bishop in Mexico! She knows a LOT about the church. She's really excited to get the lessons! When we came to the door she said, "what a miracle! You came!" It was so touching. her name is Leticia. I can't WAIT to teach her more!!!!

Exchanges...so we had exchanges this last week, and I went to English speaking for the first time with Sister Alofipo!!! It was SOOO much fun! It was SO different. I learned a TON. I first learned that I love Spanish, I love my area, and I love the people I teach. I also learned how much easier it is to express yourself in English. Haha. It was so much fun. Members took us out to eat to Red Lobster and Mellow Mushroom for dinner during the two days! Yay for American food!!! I had SUCH a great time!!

Branch BBQ....we had a brand BBQ for THanksgiving this last Friday. Abraham came!!!! He was able to meet a lot of the branch members!! It was SOOO much fun! Branch activities are always fun. Leave it to the Hispanics to throw a great party!!

Fermin....one of our members is friends with Fermin. He lives in the apartment below her. He is a party guy. He drinks, smokes, goes to strip clubs, etc. The whole nine yards. He is in love with this member, so he had come to church a couple times so that she would consider marrying him.....THEN.....something changed inside him. He wanted us to teach him the missionary discussions. He is really changing....but not for her. He is changing for himself. It is absolutely incredible to watch!!! It's people like him that make missionary work so incredible! We get to watch a man change his life! He has come to church 6 times....and this last Sunday, he PICKED up one of our MEMBERS and drove them to church. OUR INVESTIGATORS ARE DRIVING OUR MEMBERS!!!! This never happens. He is truly doing this out of a desire to develop a relationship with God. I hope I stay in Chamblee long enough to see him baptized. He's going to take some time, but he is worth it. Just watching him change is a priceless gift. :)

Our game plan....so, we only have 4 ish progressing investigators....and we used to have 12. We really need to get our investigators progressing. We were trying to figure out what we could do. We decided that we needed to be progressing missionaries in order to have progressing investigators. So, we decided as a companionship that every time we come up with the commitment for our investigators, we are going to come up with one for us as a companionship. Then, when we follow up with the investigator, we will follow up personally as a companionship to make sure we are progressing WITH our investigators. We are REALLY excited about this idea, and we're excited to see some blessings come from it!!

So, that was my week. It was amazing, as usual. Just being a missionary is amazing!!!! I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!! I am thankful for this Gospel, my family, the opportunity I have to represent Jesus Christ, my investigators, the Chamblee Branch, the

Georgia Atlanta Mission, the Atonement, and my Savior Jesus Christ. I love you all! Hope y'all have a great week!

Love,

Hermana Bringhurst

Mary Kay, Smoke Detectors, and Tablets

Dearest Family and Friends,

Yet another amazing week has passed here in Atlanta Georgia.....sadly there isn't any snow....but it's okay!! We are listening to Christmas Music!!! Haha!! :)

Juan....so I wanted to give an update on him. He is doing super amazing!!! He still won't come to church or be baptized, BUT we taught him the Word of Wisdom, and before we even got to the "why we don't" or "what will happen if we do keep this law" part, he asked "Okay, so it says no coffee, and I believe that this Word of Wisdom is true...how do I stop drinking coffee?" HELLO!!!!! He is SOOO awesome!! I can't even believe it!!! He just rocks my socks. So we finished talking about the Word of Wisdom and his question got answered. :) He is so awesome. I can't believe he won't come to church or get baptized, but he'll read the BOM and keep the Word of Wisdom. Haha, he'll come around someday. :)

Abraham y Milagros....I just LOVE these two. They really are like our parents here on the mission. I just wanted to share that while I was on exchanges a while back with Sister Creech, I called Abraham to set an appointment, and I had completely lost my voice that day because I'd done so much talking!! Abraham asked if he could say a prayer for me. So right there on the call, my investigator said a prayer that I would get my voice back so I could keep preaching the word and being a missionary. It was so sweet. I was in tears. I just can't believe how much love these two have for us missionaries. Even though they don't believe in the BOM or will come to church, they are the kindest people I have ever met on the mission. It's people like this and experiences like this that I will cherish whether they get baptized or not. :)

Sister Conference....so we had the wonderful opportunity of having all the sisters in the whole mission get together this last week!!! It was SOOOOO much fun!! There are 70 of us total. It's amazing!! We talked a lot about the Priesthood, and how we receive the same blessings, but how we also need to respect those who hold a Priesthood office and not overstep our boundaries. We referenced Conference a lot, and just had a good "you are awesome!" talk. We also had to be instructed on "what do you do if someone is flirting with you?" It was awkward. It was such a fun conference. Sister Foote is just SOOO sweet!! We got to practice a Christmas song that the Sisters are singing. Sister Foote asked me to play for it, so that should be way fun!! We also had a fun lunch and got to know all the sisters, and then we had a clothing exchange!! It was SOO fun! Sister Foote wants to do one every 6 months. I am so looking forward to the next one!

Member Referrals....Okay, so this is where the title of the email comes in. We received 2 member referrals this week. One member wanted us to come to her boss's house and teach her there, and the other member wanted us to come to her house, and she was going to bring a friend. Both of these appointments happened to be on the same day. So, we went to the first one. We were SOO excited!!! We NEVER get member referrals!!! So, we go into the house, and it's NOT a Hispanic house. The member came in and said that we'd be teaching in English. Ok, great. So then the old lady comes in, and we start trying to teach her....part way through our "why did you want to see the missionaries today?" talk, we found out that we weren't there to teach her about the Gospel....we were called over to teach her how to use her new tablet. Awkward. So, we spent about 30 minutes teaching this really old lady how to use a tablet while she told us crazy stories. So, that didn't go as planned. Then. The second member referral. The member took us into the room of her apartment complex where people would have a business meeting. Then in walks a representative of the Mary Kay make up company. Awkward. She began setting up products, and mirrors for everyone. So it turns out that our member is trying to become a representative for Mary kay as well, so she needed to bring friends to a demonstration so she could practice. We were bamboozled!!! So we had about an hour long Mary Kay demonstration. At least my face was soft by the end. The weirdest part was at the very end when we had to recite "face, face, you are amazing and beautiful, and you can stay that way with Mary Kay!" while looking in the mirror. Awkward. So, our member lessons did not go as planned this week. Haha, it was really funny, and really awkward.

Service Activity....so our district and one other district from our zone were asked to do a service project for Red Cross this week. We arrived, and had to put on the Red Cross vests and everything. It was totally official. Then I was given my assignment as "installer" .....huh? Installing what exactly??? It turns out that the project was going around the city and offering to install smoke detectors for free. Yikes. I have NEVER installed a smoke detector. We got a 5 minute tutorial and we were off. I got a drill, a ladder, and a flashlight. YIKES!!! I was nervous. I ended up installing 2 smoke detectors that day.....let's just say that is something I NEVER anticipated doing on the mission. I just love being a missionary. You get to have all these crazy opportunities!

Primary Program....so it was the Primary Program for our branch yesterday. you can't go wrong with the primary program!! I was SOOO excited! I got to play the piano :) THe kids are just sooo cute. Their testimonies are just so simple, and yet so powerful. I definitely learned from them. We also got to teach Relief Society. We taught Chapter 22 about bringing the Gospel to the world, and how we can all be missionaries. How perfect!!! I was so excited for the opportunity! It ended up going really well. :) I just love the Chamblee branch. I love being here.

So, that's my week for you!!! It was definitely an interesting one!! That's why I love being a missionary! You never know what is going to happen!! I love you all!!

Love,

Hermana Bringhurst

I'm Running Out of Subject Line Ideas . . .

Dearest Family and Friends,

Here I am in Georgia and yet another amazing week has come and gone. I am so privileged to be here, and I have SOOO many amazing experiences awaiting me! I just love being a missionary. So I am going to go in order of how my week went, so yes I will talk about transfers, but later. :)

Library Story....so last week we had to go to the library to do training online, and as we were leaving, a sister called to us and said, "hello sisters!!!" We knew she was LDS because no one talks to us unless they know us. She asked us if we were the sisters going to her "Time out for women" speech. We said we weren't because it wasn't in our area. Then we just started talking. She was with her mom, and her 2 friends that weren't members. We talked about the missionaries that had given her a book of Mormon. She said she wanted to learn Spanish. We told her if she read the Book of Mormon in English and Spanish side by side, that she would learn Spanish. So we gave her a Book of Mormon in Spanish. We talked for a while. Then we asked if we could say a prayer with them. We asked if there was anything we could pray for specifically. My companions told me to say the prayer because they feel awkward saying prayers in English, and they feel like I'm not awkward in Engligh...haha. So, I said the prayer. It was such a powerful experience as we all stood in a circle and prayed together. The lady wanted to take pictures with us :) It was SOOOO much fun to talk with them. This lady, Zandra, that we met is such a great example. She is doing SOOO many good things in her life. SHe is such an example to many, and I'm glad I met her. :)

Christmas Pajamas....so, we went to Target because Hermana Gallardo needed to buy a coat because she didn't have one, and Sister Stewart and I saw these ADORABLE Christmas pajamas....we couldn't help ourselves. WE HAD TO GET THEM. We decided it would be fun to get some for our new companion to welcome her into our companionship, so we got
her some too. So, that was REALLY fun. :)

Juan....so an update on Juan. He was on date for baptism....but he told us this last week that he doesn't want to get baptized. He just can't change from his catholic traditions....it was sad. BUT. He said he prayed about the Book of Mormon and he knows without a doubt that the book is true.....so we know because he has that knowledge, through time he will accept baptism. We'll keep working with him. :)

Transfers....okay, so here is the big news of this week. We got an ADORABLE new companion. Her name is Hermana Meneses (pronounced just as it's written). She is supposed to be serving in Ecuador, so she is awaiting her VISA. They said it wouldn't take very long,.....so we're thinking we'll be lucky to have her here for 2 transfers. We think she might be cleared after one transfer. We'll see. We hope she stays longer!!! She really wants to! She is from Salt Lake City but her
parents are from Mexico. She knows Spanish already, which is helpful to us when we want to know what a word means. She is so sweet. She is so excited about  the work. She is always quizzing herself on the area, the investigators, the members, etc. She really cares about this area and it hasn't even been a week!!!!! I am AMAZED!!!!! it is so fun to be a trainer. I feel like I get to learn all over again! It's such a great review. Being called as a trainer was the perfect opportunity
to redevelop really good habits. I am really excited for this opportunity. I was bummed about being in a trio again....but I know the Lord put us here for a reason, and now I'm pretty used to a trio so it's not that bad. I am really excited for this transfer!!!!! :) She really is the perfect little missionary. I can't even get over it. Even though she already knows the language, she's really humble and accept our teachings and advice. This is literally the most perfect situation I could ever be in. I just love her. So our first day was really interesting. We dropped her stuff off at the airport, then we went to Grady hospital. One of our members gave us a referral. There was a lady in the ICU who was taking missionary lessons in English, but wanted them in Spanish. So, we went to visit her in the hospital. We taught her husband Bill (not Hispanic, he's black) while we waited, and then visited her in the hospital and taught her a short lesson. It was definitely the first time that's happened to me. We ended up having to give her over to the Spanish elders in another area because they live in Carrollton, and that is NOT in our area. So, it was a fun first day. We've just had so much fun this week. We've visited less
actives, members, etc. We went knocking and found an Asian man that pretended to not know English. We also ran into a gay couple....that was REALLY awkward, and there were killer dogs in the apartment too. Yikes. What a great first week!! Haha. We have been having SOOO much fun with her!

Temple.....we have a goal this transfer to take 5 people to the temple in the branch who haven't gone before. Whether that be less actives that we re activate, or members that haven't gone, and we help them out. :) We really feel like we need to stress the temple with our members and less actives this transfer. We are really excited to see how this transfer goes!! :) One of the less actives we visited REALLY wants to prepare to get her endownments...but she can't come to church
because of work, so we're going to work with her on that, and help her prepare to go to the temple. :)

Sunday....so we had a great Sunday! President Foote talked about Sunday's at transfer meeting. He talked about how regardless of what investigators come, or what happens on Sunday, it's always the best day because we get to partake of the Sacrament. I couldn't agree more!!! So, we were put to the test on Sunday. Saturday night we visited Maria, she used to be on date but stopped progressing. We invited her to church. She works every Sunday and NEVER comes. But we
still invite her. THIS TIME she actually said yes!!! She said she needed a ride. We gave her the number of a member family that could take her. Maria said she'd call in the morning to make sure they were coming and she'd be ready. So, we worked all that out. We sat in church, and watched the family walk in that was supposed to bring her...but no Maria. What had happened? We talked to them after Sacrament meeting and they said that she was there...but said she didn't want to come. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? I was devastated....she had never been able to come because of work but REALLY wanted to. Finally her opportunity comes, the family driving her is at her door, and she denies it. I was heartbroken. I just had to know that we did everything we could have. And.....I got to partake of the Sacrament. :) We also had a GREAT correlation after church. We had our ward mission leader and assistant there. They talked about each investigator and less active we were working with. We picked our most progressing, and they said that they would use the full forces of the
branch to friendship these people and help them out. I am SOOOO excited to work with the branch more. Things are really coming together!!!!!

Chamblee really is growing. This is a tough area, and a tough branch, but it's getting stronger. I can't wait to see what happens this transfer. I am SO lucky to be a missionary, and I'm so excited to be here! I will keep all of you in my prayers this week. Thanks for all the support. I love you all!!

Love,
Hermana Bringhurst

Staying in Chamblee! :)

Dearest Family and Friends,

Can you believe I've been out for 4 months already?? Time is truly crazy on a mission. I can't even believe how fast it goes!! So, I have some news about transfers. Sister Gallardo will be leaving and joining another companionship to make a trio, and Sister Stewart and I are staying here in Chamblee and we will be training a sister coming in who is waiting for her visa. Her mission call is for Ecuador, but she's here until her visa comes!!! The Lord is really loving trios in the Spanish areas! ;) I will be sure and tell you more details this week after transfers. :)

Juan....so this week we brought the first counselor in the branch presidency and his wife to a lesson with Juan. It was such an incredible lesson!! You can always count on Hermano Portillo to be bold, but loving. He did such a great job! It was such a powerful lesson. Juan reads the Book of Mormon, and he loves it. He is basically living his life like he's LDS, he just isn't baptized, and won't get baptized because he was baptized in the Catholic church. After this lesson, we asked him again about baptism and gave him a date. He said yes, but only if we kept teaching him and helped him prepare....of COURSE we will!!! It's why we are here! We were soooo excited!! All he needs to do is come to church, and he is ready!!!! I am beyond excited!!!

Exchanges....so exchanges were kind of a turning point for me on my mission. As I said last week, I stayed in Spanish by myself and my companions went English speaking. I was really nervous, but I knew the Lord would help me. I went into exchanges with a lesson that I wanted to learn. I wanted the Lord to help me see through this exchange that I CAN speak this language eventually, and that if the Lord ever needed me to train someone down the road in my mission, that I would feel like I could be there for them. so that's what I wanted to learn. Exchanges were the most amazing experience I've had on my mission so far. I now know what the gift of tongues is. The Lord didn't suddenly make me fluent for 2 days, he just simply helped me to understand Spanish, and be able to remember what I had studied. it was incredible. I really put my trust in the Lord. I am HIs instrument, and this is His work. I simply needed to put my trust in Him and let Him use me how He needed. It was amazing!!!! During the exchange we were able to do service, visit investigators, less actives, and members, and even go knocking. We found a sweet lady named Ana while we were knocking. She basically told me that she knew God sent us to her door. She actually took the Book of Mormon out of my hand and said, "can I have this? I'd like to read it." It was AMAZING!!! She has been reading the Book of Mormon, and we are going back and visiting her this week. What an amazing experience. I simply loved exchanges. I learned that this is the Lord's work, and not mine, and that if I put my trust in Him, He will do whatever necessary with me to ensure the work going forward - all I need to do is stay in tune with the spirit and be obedient and TRUST. So, exchanges were amazing!!! I think they really prepared me for this next transfer. :)

Service.....so we were able to do a LOT of service this week, which is rare. Our district was excluded from the last zone service project (apparently we were the farthest away and they didn't want the whole zone there) and the Hispanic culture isn't really good at accepting help. BUT this week we had a lady in the branch ask us to come and clean her carpet. So, Sister Creech (the STL) and I were able to go to her house and vacuum, and clean her carpets for 4 hours. It was nice to have an opportunity to serve. Hopefully she'll spread the word around the branch so that more people will ask us to come and serve!! So, since our district was excluded from the last zone service project, they found another one for just our district. So, our district and the zone leaders went to this church in Lithonia and we helped out with their "Disaster awareness seminar" thingy. At first we were just "greeters" but there wasn't a need for 12 greeters...so us sisters were asked to participate in their seminar. We sat through an hour long meeting about "Emergency Response" and then they made us participate in their "speed talk" activity. They set up two sets of chairs in circles around the room, and we just rotated in the circle and talked to a lot of the people there....it was like speed dating...but with people from various "disaster companies" I met a lady who works for Red Cross, another lady from hazardous materials company....etc. The questions were "what brought you to your organization?" "How will this seminar help your company and the community?" How on EARTH was this service? I had NO answers....I just bore my testimony and talked about being a missionary. You don't get to be a part of a disaster relief seminar everyday on your mission! ;) We then had the opportunity to serve lunch to everyone. The elders were done greeting, so they just got to sit there while us sisters wore aprons, hair nets, and gloves and served food. It was really fun!!! We helped load stuff in cars and clean up the whole event. Apparently the people who sponsor this every year always ask the missionaries to come! So, that was a great opportunity! :)

KFC miracle....so we ate at KFC one day, and there were two Hispanic families. We decided to give them pass along cards...sadly one of the families left. Then our companionship got in a small argument, and we just left the restaurant...then the spirit reminded us that we needed to give that card away. We were reluctant because we didn't have the best of feelings with each other at the moment, but we decided to do it. So we gave them the card and said, "we are misisonaries, here is our card! have a nice day!" and that was it....later that night we got a text from the KFC family!!! They said, "hey you this is the family from KFC, you gave us your card, where is your church?"" Holy cow!!! That NEVER happens. EVER. So, we are really excited to go and start teaching them!! Our testimony of pass along cards has really been strengthened!!!

So, our district leader challenged us in our next family email to share how the Lord has blessed us on our mission. So, here it goes. Where do I even begin? The lord has blessed me with many choice experiences. I get to be a part of people's conversion. It's amazing to watch. I also have the opportunity to be really close to the spirit, and see people the way God and Jesus Christ see them. I've also been blessed on my mission to realize JUST how important my family is to me. I've always loved and appreciated them....but moreso now that I've been away. The Lord has blessed me in countless ways. I can't even describe it. I am so blessed to be a missionary.

With Love,

Hermana Bringhurst

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

Zippidie Doo Dah!

Dearest Family and Friends,

Wow. On a scale of 1 to 10....my week has been an 11 this week. I couldn't really tell you exactly why, I'm just super happy. :)

Coke World....for P-day last week we went to Coke World. My expectations were a little low after some of the stories I heard....so I wasn't expecting much. Let me just say that it was actually super fun!!! I really enjoyed myself! There were 2 movies, a picture opportunity with the large white bear, and a room where you could taste test 100 different coke flavors around the world! It was super awesome! So, we finally did something fun and signature to Atlanta for P-day! :) We also saw 2 different LDS families. They came to say hi to us. Oh, I just love the cute LDS families that want to say hi to the missionaries. It definitely made my day perfect!

Investigators....so I figured I'd catch you up on all the people we're teaching. I was so focused on Ana, her kids, and Walter that I just forgot to mention the rest. Now that we've dropped Walter, and Ana has moved to Texas...I've got to start talking about other people.

Maria...we found her knocking. She had heard missionaries before. I don't know why she stopped listening. She's had a lot of tragedy in her life, and she is SUPER depressed. She liked just using our lessons as a "my life is hard make me feel better" sort of thing, but we've decided we need to bring happiness in her life. We brought a member who is really happy all the time, and that seemed to help. Maria is on date for baptism, but she works every Sunday and can't come to church. We are trying to set her up with our Relief Society president who works in the same field as her to try and help her get work off Sunday. She's super nice, and hopefully this Gospel can bring happiness in her life.

Juan....we found him knocking as well. He was SUPER open to everything. He accepted a Book of Mormon and read it on his own before we even met with him! He is Catholic, but he really likes learning about our church. He has accepted EVERYTHING we've taught, he just won't get baptized because he was already baptized in the catholic church. We are working with him on that. We teach him every Monday night. Hopefully he can TRULY know our message is true, and accept baptism. he also works every SUnday...boo...

Guadalupe....she was a member referral. (more like a less-active referral) I've talked about her before, but we stopped teaching her because she just wasn't answering or progressing. We got back in contact, and actually have taught her 2 times this last week. We put her on date for baptism!! We finally got to meet her husband as well. She wants us to start teaching her granddaughter. There is a LOT of potential within this family, and I'm SOOO excited!!

Gonzalo....we found him knocking. The elders taught him before, but I guess he didn't progress. After the elders taught him, his wife passed away from cancer. I guess this life event helped him realize that he is missing something. When we went to our first appointment with him, he was actually waiting at the door for us!! So cute!! It was awesome. We put him on date for baptism as well. So, we have 3 on date, and we're working with them all. There's something that's holding each of them back, but we'll get there!! Gonzalo has been in Florida for work...so he won't be back for another week...boo...BUT he's been reading the Book of Mormon!! :)

Lupe....she was a referral from the English sisters. She is SUPER Christian, and it's awesome!! She promised to read the Book of Mormon. She's heard a lot about "Mormons" but had some misinterpretations, and we cleared those up....in other words "no I will not be one of many wives". ;) So funny. She doesn't have a phone, so it's kind of a "hit and miss" with visiting her. She's super sweet though. She's SOOO golden! I can't wait to see how she progresses!

District Meeting...SO AMAZING!!! We played PMG Jeopardy. It was SO fun. Elder Taufa also baked brownies, and the sisters baked a cake, and the other elders brought ice cream. We celebrated my birthday, and elder Cruz's birthday. It was SOO fun. We really do have the BEST district family! :)

BIRTHDAY.....I literally had the BEST birthday in the entire world!!! 2 days before my birthday we visited a member for dinner, and we had a cake and she sang to me :) It was SO sweet. Then the day after my birthday we called Abraham to schedule an appointment, and he sang for me too. He's so sweet!!! Then the day after my birthday we went to the Mata's house for dinner, and she baked me a cake!! I don't even know how she knew it was my birthday!!! The elders called and sang happy birthday to me in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Chinese (more like....shing wong ping pong haaa shing!!!) It was SOO funny. I just had the best birthday ever. I received SOOO much love from my family, and I was also loved here. :) :)

Referrals....so remember the rough week we had last week? Well, this week we saw the fruits of our labor!! We called it the miracle of referrals. We received at least 5 referrals this last week from various sources. It was amazing. Heavenly Father is truly trusting us with his precious children. We are going to work SUPER hard and take care of them! :)

Sunday....wow. SOOOO we had a member of the 70 come to our little branch!!! His name is Elder Soares from Brazil! SOOO cool. We normally have 90 ish...maybe...come to church every week. But this week we had 135!!!! It was amazing. The spirit was SOOO strong. It was absolutely incredible. I wish I could describe to you how it felt to sit in that Sacrament Meeting with a member of the 70 and SO many people present. I know our little branch just felt SO honored to have him come. What an incredible experience. I hope this sparked a desire in everyone to come back to church. It was amazing.

So, my week was the BOMB. It truly was. I am SOOO blessed to be a missionary. Truly. Thank you for always supporting me, loving me, and praying for me. It truly makes a difference. Love you all!

Love,
Hermana Bringhurst