Dear Family and Friends,

 

You all are awesome. Thank you for your love and support.

 

I'm not sure what to write today. My heart is full, but my mind is a little empty! Let me just start by telling you all what I am thankful for right now:

 

I'm thankful for the people in Conroe who welcome us as missionaries into their homes to teach them, I'm thankful for members of the church in this area who work with us and feed us and encourage us and love us. I am thankful for my companions and their love and support and examples to me of how to love people and live and teach the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am grateful for the lessons we've taught that have been so difficult, for the times when people didn't want to open their hearts yet, because they helped me appreciate the miracle of seeing people (sometimes those same people!) have their hearts softened and their minds open to the words we're teaching. I'm so thankful for the Holy Ghost, who has given me words to say to help soften hearts. I'm thankful for the many, many answers to my many, many prayers that have sustained me and helped me see the hand of God in every hour of each day. I'm thankful for the opportunity to serve the Lord. Above all, I am thankful for my Savior Jesus Christ and his willing sacrifice of everything on our behalf.

 

Well, I've remembered a couple of stories that you all might enjoy:

 

One: Hermana Edge and I were on our own last night while Hermana Coogan attended a baptismal service in another area. We were preparing to go talk to some people and hand out some flyers about the English class we're teaching, and so we'd opened the trunk to pull them out. When we closed the trunk, Hermana Edge looked at me with an "oh no!" expression. We'd locked the keys in the trunk! The car doors were locked and the phone was inside! Well, this was the first time Hermana Edge has ever locked herself out of a car, but she was amazingly calm. Just as calm as I was, and it was nothing new for me (can't tell you the number of times I've locked myself out or done something like unto it). Luckily, we had parked outside the home of a family we know, and the two boys (young adult and teenager) just happened to know how to "break in" with a coathanger. It took about forty minutes, but they rescued us!! What a blessing.

 

Two: This morning I killed a cockroach for Hermana Coogan. That's not the funny part. They funny part is that she was saying, "Oh, it's really big. It's a huge one!!" but after I got it, I saw that it was one of the smallest ones I've ever seen. When I told her, "Hey, look, it's a small one," she said, "No, it's big. It's just because you're from Texas." Yes, I guess everything is bigger in Texas, even the cockroaches!

 

Hope you all enjoyed that! I will add to my list that I am thankful for YOU! Have a fantastic week. I'll be home Thursday!

 

Sincerely, 

Hermana Alicia Brighton