Dear fantastic family and friends,

 

You all are amazing! I hope you are having a wonderful week.

 

 I know I've settled into the swing of things here because time has started to just fly! It seems like just yesterday I was sitting here in the library typing an email home, but in reality, a week has gone by. And it has been a wonderful week.

 

We have met and and talked with and served and taught so many people. We also had a zone conference this week--a meeting of lots and lots of missionaries where we were given instruction and encouragement and training by the mission president and other mission leaders. It was very uplifting.

 

One of the main talks was given by President Chappell, who is a counselor to the mission president. He spoke to us about something he called visualization and how we can use this technique to become better. I'm going to share the main points of his talk because it was so amazing, and I think that everyone can benefit.

 

1. Our subconcsious mind is more powerful than our conscious mind.

2. Our brain is a goal-seeking machine. When it is given a goal, it will work day and night to accomplish that goal.

3. Subconscious beliefs about ourselves determine or limit our actions, performance, successes, and failures. Our image of ourself is the goal our brain will work towards.

4. The human nervous system cannot distinguish between actual experiences and experiences that are imagined vividly and in detail. (He shared some supporting data from several scientific studies.)

5. Our Creator has given each of us the ability to change the beliefs we have about ourselves.

 

Basically, what we tell ourselves we are is what we are going to become. What we tell ourselves we can do is what we're going to be able to do.

 

One of my very favorite scriptures is in the Book of Mormon, in Ether 12:27. It is the words of Heavenly Father to us, and I'm going to paraphrase to make it more personal: If you come unto me, I will show you your weakness. I give you weakness so that you will be humble, and my grace is sufficient for you because if you humble yourself before me and have faith in me, I will make weak things become strong for you. I know that this promise from our Heavenly Father is true because I have experienced its fulfillment in my life. I know that because of His grace, we can access the power of the Atonement that our Savior Jesus Christ has made for us. Because of this, we don't need to ever tell ourselves that we aren't good enough or that we can't. Because of Jesus Christ, we can! And as we continually remind ourselves of this and program our brains to believe it and work toward becoming as He is, we will be blessed! I challenge you to try it out! Think of something you want to work on and pray about it daily. Remind yourself that you can do it, because you have Heavenly Father's help. I'm doing it now, with two specific goals, and I'll let you know how it goes. I'd love to hear how it goes for you too!

 

Have a great week! I'm so grateful for all of your support and encouragement.

 

Sincerely,

Hermana Alicia Brighton