Dear wonderful family and friends,

I hope that each of you is having a great day and a fantastic week! 

This last week was an incredible one for me and my companion, with a lot that happened and a lot that we did.

This week our apartment got new furniture. Two more desks, two more beds, two more chairs. It appears that all is prepared for two more sisters to move in, but we don't know when that will be.

We also had a Sisters' leadership meeting this week. We received training in preparation for new leadership assignments that Sisters in the mission will soon be receiving to help facilitate the training and integration of many more sister missionaries into the mission. 

Hermana H and I had an incredible week as far as teaching went. We continued to find more people to teach and we also set goals with four more people for their baptisms. There are currently five people that we are teaching who are preparing to be baptized in May and June: Josefa, Bere, Maria, Oscar, and Luis. Please pray for us and them! One thing that really stood out to me as we taught and as I studied this week is the power of praying specifically. When one of Heavenly Father's children shows enough faith in him to ask for a specific answer to a specific question or to ask for specific help with a problem, he blesses them. He gives them the answer or the help that they need. For example, Oscar knelt down with us this week and asked our Father in Heaven if Joseph Smith was a prophet and if the Book of Mormon is true. And after he did, he and his girlfriend described the wonderful feelings they felt as the Spirit testified to them of the truth. Heavenly Father granted them an immediate response to their specific question as they asked in faith. I saw another example in the scriptures as I read from the Book of Mormon in the book of Ether this week about how the brother of Jared asked for specific help from the Lord--that he would touch stones and make them shine to provide light for their boats for their journey across the ocean. I was so impressed as I realized that asking for that specific help was the way that the brother of Jared exercised faith described to him by the Lord thus: "never has man come before me with such exceeding faith as thou hast."

Sister H and I have also seen blessings as we've been praying more specifically for those we teach this week. I know that specific prayer brings great miracles and blessings.

Last night our branch had a movie night where we watched Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration. We'd been planning it for over a month, and everything turned out great! It was awesome to see how a couple of the youth brought their non-member friends. There is indeed power in member missionary work, and it is great to be able to provide the members with less-threatening opportunities to introduce their friends to the gospel. 

Yesterday Hermana H and I also had the opportunity to teach the 14 to 15-year-old Sunday School class, and were able to teach them the message of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and then invite them to share their testimony and a pamphlet with one of their friends and practice with them how to do it. It was so rewarding to see how excited they were to have us come to their class and also their excitement, especially of some of them, to share with their friends. Heavenly Father is preparing them to be great missionaries in the near future!

Thank you all for your support and especially your prayers on my behalf. I appreciate all you do for me and for each other. Please continue to pray for me and I would ask that you pray this week specifically that I may be able to develop greater charity for my companion and the others whom I serve.

Thank you!

I love you all.

Sincerely,

Hermana Brighton

Dear Wonderful Family and Friends,

I hope each of you is doing wonderfully. I definitely am--thank you so much for all of your prayers on my behalf. 

This week was amazing! We started teaching four new people and talked to many others who are interested or may be interested in the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

We also started biking this week!!!! Finally! Bought the bikes Monday, had exchanges Tuesday and Wednesday (which means I wasn't in our area), so we didn't have our first day on bike until Thursday. So day one on bike, I was wearing kind of stretchy-type skirt. We were almost home when my skirt got caught in the tire and ripped a big hole in it. Whoops! Day two on bike, wearing a NOT stretchy, light tan skirt. Skirt gets caught in the tire once again, doesn't rip but it's all stained. Whoops again. I think I pretty much got all the stains out (thanks Mom for sending the Zote soap with me!). So learning that biking and skirts must be taken together very very carefully! We didn't ride Saturday or Sunday, but I'm anticipating a problem-free day three on bikes this evening. I don't know what it is about riding a bike that would cause this, but my feet have started getting pretty tan on the part my shoes don't cover. I don't know about the rest of me. I always wear sunscreen on my face.

Last week in our zone conference, we were challenged to look for opportunities to give more to the work...specifically to give just ten more minutes. Well this week we had an amazing experience as we did just that: 

It was 4:45 and we'd just finished knocking all the doors in one half of a complex. We didn't have a dinner appointment to get to, so we decided to give "ten minutes more" and continue on to the other side before we returned to our apartment to eat. At the second door that we knocked on, a woman named Stephanie received us into her home, we offered a prayer for her family, and she wanted the missionaries to come back another day to teach her more about how she can feel the Spirit more in her life. It was a miracle. We were so glad we had given "just ten more minutes."

Another great experience this week was going over Saturday morning to help Josefa, one of the women we are teaching, make tamales. Later she called us and had us come pick up some the finished tamales. They were great. This was the second time I've helped make tamales on my mission--I think I've got the idea now and could make them in the future. It was great to just be able to help Josefa and have her know that we really are there for her when she needs us.

 

I hope you all are also continuing to find meaningful ways to help those around you. I've loved hearing about some of the wonderful things you've done and would love to hear about any other things you've done are that you do in the coming weeks to serve and help those around you.

 

I send you lots of love!! Have a wonderful week!

 

Love,

Hermana Brighton

Dear family and friends,

I love you! Thank you for your prayers on my behalf.

This last week was really good. We've continued to find new people to teach, and we've also met a lot of people that we'll hopefully begin teaching in the near future. Currently we are teaching six people! Plus we have individuals and a family we are working with to try to help them become more active in the church.

I want to share an experience that we had last week at WalMart, of all places. After everything had fallen through with trying to purchase Hermana H's bike, we were walking back out to our car. I was feeling a little bit frustrated and prayed in my heart, telling Heavenly Father I knew there was a reason but I didn't understand why things didn't work out. Just then, we walked by a man sitting on a bench. We walked past him. Then the Spirit whispered to me that he could be the reason--we needed to be there in that moment and talk to him. Well, we turned around and talked to him. He was very open and wants to change his life and be happier and follow Christ. He lives somewhere else, so we referred him to the missionaries where he lives. I don't know what happened, but I felt so happy after we talked to him. Those are the best moments in missionary work.

I love you all! Have a great week. Keep a prayer in your heart, and don't hesitate to follow the promptings that come from our loving Heavenly Father.

Love,

Hermana Brighton

P.S. I have pictures to send but have to figure out how to make the connection work on this computer. Look forward to it!! (Maybe next week, we'll see.)

Dear wonderful family and friends,

I hope you are having a wonderful week!

My new companion, straight from the MTC, is Hermana  H.. She is from Mesa, AZ and is 19 years old! She's amazing. She was in the MTC for 12 days because she studied Spanish in high school. She is enthusiastic and hardworking and obedient. She's a great companion! We have seen great miracles together already.

General conference was amazing (I hope you all got the chance to watch). One of the ladies we are teaching, Lydia, came and watched with us on Sunday afternoon, and it was a great experience for her. She loved it. She watched the other Sunday session from her computer at home too and loved it.

I especially loved President Monson's talk about obedience. I have seen great blessings in my life and in my mission that have come through obedience. Right now our mission is really focusing on being 100% obedient. We're trying to be "the most obedient mission on the face of the earth," in the words of Sister Alba, our mission president's wife. Through obedience, we become worthy to call down the blessings and miracles of heaven to bless the lives of our dear brothers and sisters whom we serve.

This has been a crazy day. We are going to start riding bikes in our area!!!!!!!! (We will still have our car but will be able to use the bikes to get around faster than walking while still being able to stop and talk to people.) So we spent a few hours today trying to get that figured out but in the end we ended up with only one bike (mine) because Hermana H's check kept getting denied. So next week!

One more thought: as I've been training my new companion and just facing the everyday challenges that come our way, I've been reminded of the power of prayer to help protect, guide, and sustain me throughout the day. As it becomes a constant and natural part of my life instead of a last resort, I know I will find greater peace and strength in this work.

I love you all! Have a wonderful week.

Love,

Hermana Brighton

Hello to my wonderful family and dear friends!

It's good to write to you once more this week and think of the blessings and miracles that I've received this last week. I hope that you all have had a wonderful week as well.

We're emailing once again on Tuesday because we have completed yet another six week period and have transfers today. My companion is leaving to another area and I will be training a brand new missionary here in Rohnert Park. It's such a blessing to be able to remain in this area--I love it so much and the work is really hastening here. We are now teaching four different people, and each one is so special and has obviously been specially prepared to receive the message of the gospel.

Today I will be going into Santa Rosa, where I will meet all the new missionaries at a fireside this evening and then I will be assigned my new companion and return to Rohnert Park tomorrow morning. I'm excited for this new experience and will be doing my very best to help my new companion learn and do all that will help her become the best missionary she can be. What a great responsibility I'm being given! I know that I will need the help of our Father in Heaven, and I know that He will give me that help that I need.

I love you all. I appreciate your prayers for me and for the work that I am doing. I know those prayers are answered.

Please make it a great week!

Love, 

Hermana Brighton