Dear family and friends,

I hope you have had a great first few days of 2014. I looked at my journal last night and realized that I had continued to put 2013 for the past few days. I guess I just wanted to go back to the beginning of this last year instead of continuing on and turning the page to the next one.

I certainly have done a lot of growing and learning in this past year. I can hardly believe that I spent the entire year of 2014 as Hermana Brighton, serving in the California Santa Rosa Mission. It has flown by so fast. And at the same time so much has happened. During just this year, for example, I lived in 4 different cities and served with 10 different companions. That first area sometimes seems more than a year away now because everything is so different now than it was then. Wow.

For the first time in I don't know how many years, I set no resolutions on January 1st. On one hand, I feel a little bad about that. On the other hand, not so bad because I do have goals...just didn't set them to specifically coincide with the new year. I've found I have often forgotten my new year's resolutions by the end of the year anyway. I went back and looked at mine from last year...I hadn't specifically remembered them all year but I definitely have made progress in achieving them and have set many goals throughout the course of the year that have helped me in that progression.

I thought I might share some of the thoughts that I have had throughout this week...a little different than sharing stories, but if I have time I will share a couple of the events from this week too.

I was thinking  the other night about how the worth of souls is great in the sight of God. (One reason I was thinking about that is because I am teaching about "Leaders and Our Divine Potential" this week at the mission leadership council, which by the way is going to be over three days at Camp Liahona in the Redwoods. I am glad that I remembered that just now because I meant to tell you all about it and almost forgot. I probably would have remembered for sure to tell you next week anyway!) So back to the thought. I was thinking about our worth and then about how every soul is of equally great worth. And how the work of bringing a soul unto Christ isn't completed just in introducing someone to Him and His gospel. It extends throughout the lifetime of a person and then probably beyond. And every person we come in contact with is in that process. So then I thought about all the companions that I have had and how, just like I have a responsibility to continue to support and encourage those who I have helped to become members of the church, I may have a similar responsibility toward each one of them. To continue to maintain contact with and encourage them throughout our lives. Because their soul is just as precious.

Another thought. As we learn the gospel, we must Know, Do, and Be. So I read 2 Nephi 31 the other day and placed what I learned about each of the first principles and ordinances of the gospel (faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost) into categories of know, do, and be. It became kind of a chart and it is interesting to see how each step of the gospel applies at each different level of living it. And how the steps of knowing, doing and being build upon one another just as the steps of the gospel build on each other.

So a couple of events. A miracle. We were praying to be able to teach someone because everything had cancelled one night and in the middle of the prayer we got a call from a sister who was happy to have us come and teach her and her family.

Upcoming event. Brandon, who just got baptized last weekend, is going to share his testimony in a "Why I Believe" fireside this coming Sunday here in Davis. We had an awesome lesson with him this week about missionary work. He was so happy to realize that he can be and has been an example for his friends, and he is also already thinking about serving a full-time mission.

Well, it has been another wonderful week for me in the service of Jesus Christ. I still have much to learn and improve and am looking forward to another week in which I can continue to do just that. Please keep doing that yourselves too! I love you!

Hermana Brighton