November 8, 2017
Monday, November 27, 2017
The best 2 years of my life, and the best 2 years FOR my life!
October 30, 2017
Well, I would like to say exactly what I am feeling right
now, or the things that are going through my head but there just aren´t
words to describe it. Two years ago I left everything that I knew, my
family, my friends, my things, even the language that I spoke and
anything else that you can think of. At that time I was feeling the same
as I am now. I wasn´t sure what would be coming, but I went forward
with faith in Christ. Faith that He would take care of me, and take care
of all the things that I was leaving behind. And faith that He could
maybe use me as an instrument in Chile to do some good. Well He hasn´t
let me down, not even once. If anything, I have seen the people that I
love in my life grow and change exponentially. My sisters for example
are completely different. I have been watching them through the weekly
emails that I have gotten from them these last 2 years. Along with other
milestones that I have seen my loved ones accomplish, I know that He
took care of them. And that He took care of me through every situation
that I have been through.
Now, after all of that, almost 2 two years later
I am being asked to make the same decision again. That I leave behind
all of the things that I have come to know and love. The culture, the
people, the food and again the language. In some ways it is very similar
to what I was faced with two years ago but at the same time the exact
opposite. That being said I have the same feelings as I did when I left
the first time.
This time that the Lord has given me to be
able to serve and teach his children here in Chile has been
unforgettable. I have no doubt in my mind that some of the people and
families here were waiting and that the Lord sent me to find them.
During this time I have grown to know our Savor on a very personal
level. Between seeing the changes that He has made in the lives of
others and experiencing the changes that He has made in me. I know that
He has a very active hand in every one of our lives, whether we know it
or not. I know that He prepares His children for all of the trials that
they face and is preparing the hearts of all to receive the gospel of
Jesus Christ. Even in some of the harshest places on earth, even the
Atacama Desert, He is very active in the work of salvation. I know Him
and I love Him. He has been with me for these last two years. Holding me
strong when I was weak, and giving me the words to say when others were
beat down. For that, and much more that he has done for me, I am
forever grateful.
The mission is always called
the best two years of your life. And it is.....But it is also the best
two years for your life. Thinking back on the things that I could have
been doing these last two years, nothing even comes close to the
importance of serving a mission. I have come to know myself as well.
That sounds weird, but it is true. Heavenly Father has shown me what I
can do and also where my limits are. He has given me a perspective on
life so clear that I feel like I could just step into the next chapter
of my life. He has shown me the things that really matter, how to build a
family, how to be happy and the importance of prioritizing everything.
Even though I have been far from them I have grown to love and
appreciate my family immensely. I know that they love me and support me
in everything that I do and that thanks to the grand plan that God has
prepared, that we are all sealed together for the eternities.
This
is my last letter that I will send home so I want to leave you all with
my testimony. I love my Father in heaven and the Savior more than I can
express. I know that they love each and everyone of us more than we can
comprehend. I know that the atonement of Jesus Christ and the blessings
of repentance are true and real, that through them we can be
sanctified. I know that the church of Jesus Christ has been restored to
its fullness, and that through obedience to the laws and commandments
that He has given us we can be blessed with peace and happiness. I know
that The Book of Mormon teaches and testifies of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ and that through it we can come to know Him and understand
the plan that He has for us. That He wants us to return to live with Him
again. I know that families can be sealed for the eternities and that I
have been sealed to my family forever. I pray that all that read this
can know the truth for themselves, that they can find the answers to
their prayers, and receive a confirmation from the Holy Ghost. I leave
you all with these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Until I return to the states,
Love,
Elder Brayton
El fin se acerca
October 23, 2017
This week was very crazy, but there isn't ever a week
where it is calm. I decided to write this week so that I wouldn't have
to depend on uploading an audio file. So this past week, Stephanie got
baptized and it was really cool because it was the same week that her
mom came in from Bolivia. So she got to see that her first week here.
Stephanie's sister was baptized right before I got to Vallenar, and
Stephanie got here the same week as I did. So now we are working with
her Mom as well as an entire group of immigrants that we found last
week. They are all working out in the desert building high tension power
lines. They are from everywhere! Columbia, Peru, Venezuela and many
other places. They all live and travel together as a building team.
There is a ton of diversity but they all get along pretty well. Every
time we go there it feels like there is someone new there. Non of them
have come to church yet but this will be the last week for them to do it
with me being here. And Andres is getting baptized!!! The super smart
scientist. I am going to do the interview Wednesday but he wont get
baptized until the 10th because of a work project he has to leave town
for. Maybe they will let me Skype!!!!!
Thank you for the 2 years of love and support!!!
Love,
Elder Brayton
Sign Language
October 9, 2017
Here is different twist on our weekly update!! Instead of a
letter/email, we get a 20 minute audio clip. It is great to be able to
hear his voice!!!
1 month to go and he will be home!!
Monday, October 30, 2017
Conference weekend
October 2, 2017
Conference week means GRINGO ROOM!!! {Gringo room is when all of the American missionaries get to watch conference in the same room in English. They usually make a party of it with all kinds of food and snacks.} Now, we did do the gringo room like normal but it was very tame this year. Vallenar being a small city, there aren't many missionaries here in the valley. Conference was fire as usual but I was sad to hear of the passing of Elder Hales after the morning session Sunday. He was very old and it had to happen sooner or later. But we know that the next apostle that is called will also be called of God. The conference definitely helped me more this year than I think it has any other time in the past. Just with a lot of questions and decisions that I have. I left each session feeling better and better.
This week started off really hard because I got hit with a crazy sickness that had me in bed. They told me that I had an infected amygdala, {I am not even sure how they decided this was the cause of his sickness} so I was pretty miserable for the week. I'm not even sure how you get that but they gave me the medicine that corresponded to that and I am all good now. But it was hard at first just for not being able to do anything. It wasn't the most ideal start to a transfer. But conference with president tomorrow, and also my second to last interview with him. I am kind of hoping that he gives me a little bit more than the last interview. The last one literally started out with him showing me pictures on his phone of him with his wife in the florid desert. We will see tomorrow!
Love y'all!!!
Elder Brayton
Last Agenda and Cambios
September 25, 2017
Dear Family and Friends,
I feel like this past week was a week very well spent, especially going back to Tierra Amarilla to see everyone. It was cool to see all the people that I was teaching!! A couple of them wrote their testimonies in my journal and all I can say is WOW!! It looks like from Tierra Amarilla there will be at the very least 2 going out on a mission this next year. One already has his papers done and is going through medical. Another got a pretty strong answer from God in a dream that she has to go and that she will be going to Peru. Her mom, who isn't a member, had the same dream. The Mom even told me that even though it isn't in her plans, that she can't ignore it. So, she is making preparations too. It was just all so much to take in in just one day. They definitely hadn't forgotten about me. They even wrote me saying that they were my second family. I definitely am going to be saving up to maybe come back and visit in a couple of years.
It was very weird to travel alone. Even a RM {return missionary} that was there said that it was something that he had never heard of. But I am glad for the chance to have gone back to visit. This is probably going to be my weekly email. My comp left today in the morning to go to Antofagasta. And my new comp got here shortly after. Elder Tolaba is from Argentina, Buenos Aires. He is really cool from what I have seen so far. Hopefully he likes to work hard and doesn't run off on me like the last one. That was a joke... by the way!! He will be the one finishing me off this cambio {transfer}. I am on my final countdown now. One of the elders that is living with us made me my last planner. It is tradition here to decorate the planners with quotes, scriptures, or other inspirational stuff. And then usually the last one is pretty focused on life after. I haven't seen the finished product. But what he has so far is pretty shameful and ``legendary`` as he puts it.
These last two years have definitely been a time of growth for me!! I plan on milking every experience that I can out of these last couple of weeks!! By the way General Conference is this week! Tune in even if it is just for a session!! {General Conference is held for our church twice a year. It is broadcast to all over the world from Salt Lake City, Utah. It gives us a chance to hear from various church leaders and even our Prophet. There are multiple sessions over a 2 day period. It is a wonderful experience to be spiritually uplifted. If you have Dish Network, you can watch it on channel 9403.}
Love,
Elder Brayton
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
Happy birthday Chile!!
September 18, 2017
Today is Chile´s national holiday and it is a good time.
All week we have been talking to people that have been coming in from
all over to Vallenar. I am not really sure about exact story because I
have heard several different ones. But everyone here is more than happy
to celebrate for the week. Unfortunately, it has made things a little
complicated for the missionaries. Mostly because everyone leaves and
heads out to a big festival that they do in the desert. Later today, we
are going out to see what it is all about with a family from church. We
just ate lunch with them and they gave me a sweet Chile jersey! As far
as everything else, we have had to focus on teaching immigrants from
other countries because the Chilenos don't fish us.
This
week I was reflecting a lot about the mission and how much faster the
work is moving now than when I got here. It has been so cool to see the
change in everyone and even myself. Everyone has such a spirit of
urgency and our president is fanning the flames so that the work can
keep growing. On top that, I feel like all the newer missionaries that I
am working with are such studs. They are seriously doing things better
at 4 months than I was at 1 year. Cambios {transfers} are this next week
so I think my run with my comp will come to an end. It was fun to be
with little Grey but he is going to be doing way bigger things in his
next sector! Who knows where they are going to send me to finish me
off!! All I know is that we are going to be finishing big this week with
him. There is an entire family of Bolivians that have been going to
church and listening to us for about a month so we are going to see if
we can help them get in the font this week.
Have fun everyone love y'all!
Elder Brayton
Wednesday, September 13, 2017
Swimmin` in the font & A podcast
September 11, 2017
Dear Friends and Family,
This
week was another incredible one. Busy as well! Today the Mission
President came down to Vallenar to congratulate the zone for all the
great work. He got us a fat slab of ribs and we did sort of a pre 18 of Sept
BBQ. This next week is Chile`s independence day, so this was an early
celebration for that. This week I think that I spent more time in Huasco
than in my own area. But it all ended very well. After an interview
with a young kid named Jiro on Monday,
I felt very strongly that he was very ready and that he needed to get
baptized and confirmed right away. So, we called everyone that we needed
to get permission and he got baptized on intercambios {exchanges}! We
made it work out so that the missionaries that prepared him could be
present as well. So Tuesday afternoon, he got baptized and confirmed
with special permission from the mission president. As the week went on,
his family got a call from Santiago because an Aunt got very sick and
they had to leave right away to be able to help her and take care of
her. Now it is looking like they will be there for awhile so we got in
contact with the Bishop there so they can keep receiving the
missionaries there. It was really cool that I was able to see that he
got baptized when he did. Other wise, he would have had to start all
over with the missionaries in Santiago.
The
time I was with Elder Howard and after everything we did, we recorded
it like a podcast talking about everything that happened. It seemed like
a good idea but its just a video of us eating hot dogs and talking. I
put it in my One Drive anyways! We also had a baptism of an 11 year old
girl named Maria. She is the most ADHD kid that I have ever met {Does
anyone else find this hysterical coming from Cooper????}. After her
baptism, she proceeded to swim and do cannon-balls into the font! It was
so fun for her!! The member baptizing her had no idea what to do with
her so we just let her play. This past Sunday Gabriel, one of our converts from a couple of weeks ago, came to church dressed up in the suit that we gave him!
All of this and much much more! Conferences in Copiapo, interviews with president, and zone attacks! All crazy but all good.
Love y'all, Stay dry!!
Love,
Elder Brayton
Monday, August 21, 2017
Over the Rainbow
July 10,2017
Hi Everyone!
This week has been excelente!. We have a couple of new missionaries living with us and we are all the biggest nerds anyone has ever seen. We all have such a good bond that it has ended up becoming a very spiritual pension for everyone. We are always talking about our investigators and how we can help them. Elder Peterson is a new district leader so I have been helping him out, but i don't think anyone can be completely prepared for a responsibility so different. Especially because he has sister missionaries in his district. But things are going very well in Arica. I can´t complain because I saw how things were when I got here. All I can do is keep at it with all I´ve got.
On a good side and funny note, this week I was walking through the Agro (it is a HUGE flea market) doing contacts in a part that I haven´t been to yet and I came across an entire store of onesies! Because it gets cold in our house at night, I got one for cheap, like 6USD. I got home that night and put it on and everyone starts teasing me. But it is okay, because the very next day every single one of them went and got one! Today, we spent p-day with the president, and we saw him a couple times downtown. It was kind of weird, but I am looking forward to the conference that we have with him tomorrow.
I hope that you all have a great week!
Love,
Elder Brayton
Vallenar
August 21, 2017
Dear Family and Friends,
Vallenar, up until now, has been a blast. To be really honest, I was really nervous coming down here because I had always heard about it being such a difficult city but I haven`t seen any of that yet. In fact the exact opposite. The people here are amazing and even though the zone is small, everyone is really close. I will repeat what I said the other week about this place being straight off of a post card. Every time I turn around I am finding another cool sight. So something that we do a ton of here is contacting. We live right next to the main plaza of downtown, so almost every time we walk through we are talking to someone new. Even though the people never live in our sector it is still fun to meet new people.
I am still getting used to the way that we are doing things here. We decided that we are going to change everything that we can to try and find new approaches to missionary work. Really they aren`t too drastic but I am still getting used to it. Just one example, so this week I was actually in my area all day for only 2 days, and the other days I left to go help other missionaries. It has really been a huge privilege to be able to serve them as much as I have been, but it is going to be awhile before I know my own sector. I wasn`t really sure what all was going on at first but now I am just going with it.
So now a little bit about my companion. He is defintly one of the funniest latinos I have met. This week while we were talking together it hit me who he reminded me of. My companion is a latino carbon copy of Grey Livingston. For those of you that don`t know who that, you have to meet him. Grey is sort of a neighbor of mine, we both live way out in the middle of the woods and we get along pretty great. But they are seriously very identical as far as personality. That is something that will make this transfer go by way faster than I would like it to. So from here on out, whenever y`all think of me and my comp just picture a Peruvian Grey!
I hope that you all have a great week!!
Love,
Elder Brayton
Life in a Postcard
August 15, 2017
Dear Family and Friends,
Yesterday I didn´t get the chance to write because I got transfered to a new city. Everyone in Arica was telling me that I was going to leave and I just didn´t want to believe them. But Friday morning we got the call and the Lord has sent me to Vallenar! Sunday I left at 7pm and I arrived yesterday at 6pm. 23 VERY long hours in total, but it was worth it. Until yesterday I thought that every city in the northern Chile was desert. But I get here and Vallenar is the most precious town ever! There is actual green here, no more dirt, like trees and grass and everything! I haven´t taken any pictures yet but when I do y´all will see what I am talking about.
Last night we went out to work with the time that we had and I immediately noticed two things. 1. that the people here are very kind and loving. Not that they weren´t in other places but here everyone acts like family. The second thing is that it is very, very cold here. I have been lucky enough to be in the warmest part of Chile both winters and now I am very far away from that. I am in the downtown part of the city were everything happens and I am in another branch. I can´t tell you too much about it because I have only been here for a day but I am learning more and more every hour.
My new companion is Elder Reluz. Another Peruvian for the win! He is still pretty fresh in Chile but has a ton of energy. One thing that I noticed right away about him is that he is extremely confidant whenever he teaches, which isn´t something that you see too often with newer missionaries. I am really exited to get started with this new transfer. Vallenar is like a different world to me in all aspects. The culture, the people, the missionaries, the mission. It is going to be a blast here. I can already tell that all the people that we find are going to be great!
I hope that you all have a great week.
Love,
Elder Brayton
New contacts and old friends
August 7, 2017
Hi Everyone!!
These last two weeks have probably been the most productive of my mission yet. I keep telling myself, and occasionally, my companion that we are here to learn. If we can say that we are better than we were last month or last week or even yesterday---then we are doing something right. Finishing these last two weeks with more than 50 new contacts between the two companionships, we have our sector sprinting right now.
It makes me sad because transfers are coming up this week and everyone is telling me that I am probably leaving to go to another city. Wherever I go, it will probably be my last sector. The ``old man`` jokes have already started but I don't let them get to me. I got to see one of my old companions from the MTC {Missionary Training Center -- this is where he first went in Mexico City for his initial training} this week, Elder Shelton. It was sweet to see him again even if it was for a couple of hours! This week is going to be short but I love y'all!
Love,
Elder Brayton
San Joseph
July 31, 2017
Dear Family and Friends,
Sorry for the sometimes sporadic emails where I write a ton or a little bit. I have been trying to make it a higher priority to at least mention something but very often the time gets away from me. Many times I blank out on what happened during the week if I don`t have my journal. This week, like most of the weeks, passed very quickly. In looking back on it, I am amazed at how much we actually did. One of the things that I am convinced of is that there are many things, very specific things, that can be learned only in the mission. Not that they can`t be learned back home, but they are things that are forced upon one in the mission. Like for example, planning. Something that I never thought of as that important until I arrived to Chile and I realized how little time there is in a day. Sure there are 24 hours, but after sleeping and eating and studying and the occasional meeting, there isn`t an unlimited amount of time to the things we need to get done. It happens at the very least, once a week, where we run out of time in the day to teach, contact, and find.
So, it is crucial to us that we, everyday, maximize the time that we have to do these things. It is so important that they have dedicated a large chapter of Preach My Gospel just to the importance of planning and using time with wisdom!
I hope that you all have a great week!
Love,
Elder Brayton
The learning never ends!!
July 17, 2017
Hello Family and friends!!
Every week I try and talk about or at least mention some of the things that I think that are important that I have learned or experienced. Well this passed week, being a week full of conferences and intercambios {exchanges (when they get a chance to work with other missionaries)}, I am not sure where to start. One thing that I can say that will never stop surprising me is how much there is to be learned still. We did intercambios with one of the new traveling assistants and he is good! I felt like a new missionary again! It was very much a humbling experience and a learning opportunity. We went around the zone doing interviews for different areas, including our own, and several people were able to get baptized because of it! He helped me learn, or helped me realize, the importance of staying humble at all times and the attribute of being ``teachable``. The missionary has way less time in the mission than I do and I thought that I would be able to teach him some things.... but boy was I wrong! Also, the conference that we had with President was bomb! We were talking all about planning and using time more effectively. The interview that I had with him following the meeting was equally uplifting. It never ceases to amaze me how much he loves the missionaries here and all he does for them.
We recently made a trip back to the caves with some of the new Elders who had never been there before. I will send along some of those pictures. I hope that you all have a great week. Remember....to never stop learning!!
Love,
Elder Brayton
CAmBios!
July 4, 2017
Hi Everyone,
Welp, the day has come. Elder Capuñay and I received our cambios {transfers} and he is headed down to Copiapo. I just came from down there so I was able to tell him all about it and all the cold weather that he should expect. He is headed down to Piapote, a sector that was part of my first district. We sent him off this morning and I am already with my new comp. He was on the other side of Arica so we just met up in the middle this morning. His name is Elder Lopez. He is a newer missionary with about 4 months in the mission. He is from Chihuahua, Mexico, so we are pretty much neighbors. He is my first Mexican companion. I think it will be good to get used to learning and getting familiar with the sayings and different vocabulary that there is in Mexico... seeing that that will be most of what I see and hear later on.
This last week I have been sort of reflecting on the different things that I have learned on my mission. I was trying to maybe sum up what I had learned in a couple of sentences but I came up empty handed. I have been blessed to be able to come to where I am today only because I have followed the councel of Jesus and other leaders of His church. Our Heavenly Father, like any other parent would for their child, wants the absolute best for us and has given us all the things that we need to be happy. And despite all of that, more often than not, I see people doing the exact opposite of the things that they know they should be doing. Their only excuse is that everyone else is doing it..... Well that is just great, but wasn't it Peter that called us a peculiar people? He called us weird because we go against the grain of normal. But that is what we must do and that is ALL that is asked of us. The bar has been set by our Savior and although He lived a very difficult life, I know that He is the happiest person to be on this earth. Never has a person been so obedient and never has a person been more happy. A quote I read this week that I loved was counsel given from a father to his kids was:
“The testimony I have of the reality and love of Jesus Christ has been the compass of my life. … It [is] a pure, burning witness of the Spirit that He lives, that He is my Redeemer and Friend in every time of need. Our challenge … is to come to know [the Savior] … and, through faith in Him, to overcome the trials and temptations of this world. Let us be faithful and true, trusting in Him.”
I hope that you all have a happy 4th of July. Be careful with the fireworks!
Love,
Elder Brayton
West Coast Winter!
June 19,2017
Hi Everyone!
Well, I can't say that it has been a slow or boring week because things like that don't exist, but as I sit down to write everyone, my mind has gone completely blank. Things still continue to move at an outstanding rate, with all of the divisions, intercambios and interviews that happen during the week everything passes very quickly. In one week more we will be ending another transfer and possibly getting a new comp. One of the things that we have been doing recently is a string of activities in the church to try and get people out of the streets or out from their homes. We have been seeing better results every week as people spread the word and invite their friends. Sorry this week is going to be really short. Here is a talk that I have been studying this week that talks a lot about the grace... something that I now understand and appreciate much better!
Thank you again for all of your prayers and support!
Love,
Elder Brayton
Monday, June 12, 2017
June 12, 2017
Dear Family and Friends,
This week has been one of those weeks in the mission that it is so difficult to not get sad but at the same time, a week that strengthens your testimony a ton. I got to have a very life changing experience for me! It has strengthened my testimony in the plan that God has for everyone of his children and for our families. The first came from an interview that I conducted on Thursday with Patricio(Pato). This was the first time that I had actually met him face to face. However, I am familiar with his situation. He has, just a couple of weeks ago, been informed that his 10 year old daughter has terminal cancer. She has been allowed to return home from Santiago with a life expectancy of only 3 more months. I can only imagine that this is something that would destroy any parent to know. Instead of giving up or getting mad at God, Pato decided that he needed to strengthen his own faith to be able to help the rest of his family be strong whenever that day comes when his daughter passes away. In the interview, he told me that he just wanted to know that he would be able to see his daughter again. I was given the opportunity to testify of the Plan of Salvation that God has for everyone. I was able to promise him that if he is faithful to all the commandments that he would be able to see his daughter in the morning of the resurrection. Never in my mission have I felt the way I did in that room with Pato. I ended sharing my testimony and crying a lot. This past week, Pato was baptized and confirmed!! He is excited to be able to continue learning and strengthening his testimony.
Whenever I found out about the situation with Pato we made a call to the mission president, who made a call to the area presidency, whom made a call to the First Presidency. All of this so that they could all be praying for Erica (Pato's daughter). After the interview, we told Pato what we had done and we offered to give his daughter a blessing. He accepted without hesitation. The blessing was something super special. We felt prompted to give her a blessing of complete recovery. During the blessing thoughts of this little girls future blinked across my mind. Her graduation, her marriage and her with her own eternal family. Also during the blessing both me my comp and I said that we felt like every single member of the Quorum of the 12 and the First Presidency with us as we layed our hands on her head. It was something that I will never be able to describe fully -- but something that has touched me deeply and left everyone present weeping.
The other thing that happened this week was the passing away of the little brother of Jerko. Jerko has been meeting with us for a couple of months. When his little brother passed away he called us and asked us to pretty much lead the funeral. The traditions here are different, but basically it isn't uncommon for a family to have to pay a ridiculous amount of money to have someone from a church to speak at a funeral. The family was extremely grateful when they heard that everything that we do is non-profit. At the actual funeral we were able to speak in front of about 50 people about the Plan of Salvation.
This week has made me so grateful that I am sealed to my family for time and all eternity. I am grateful that others can learn about these blessings that God has for us and that they can also partake in the blessing that are available. I love you all and I am so thankful for all of my friends and family and the support that I get from each of you.
Love,
Elder Brayton
Lessons from Liberty Jail
June 5, 2017
Dear family and friends!!
I don´t think that we are supposed to have favorite scriptures, but this is my new favorite one. This week I met a lady that told us that God had abandoned her. So we start reading with her D&C 121-122, where Joseph Smith is in Liberty Jail and he begins with more or less the same doubt. This lady has been bouncing around Chile almost her whole life, and she has definitely been through a lot of stuff in her life. After hearing her story, I felt that she had been through more than most people her age(she is 35). After reading with her and listening to her stories, we were able to testify of the truthfulness of the love that God has for everyone. That in no moment will He abandons us. We may be disobedient and weak at times but He is always there waiting, watching, and listening for our prayers. One part that I especially liked at the end of the reading (and where Anglia started to cry) was in the one of the last verses of the last section, where it begins to talk about all the trials that one may experience and all the blessings that come after enduring said trials.
I hope and pray that each of you will take this opportunity to look at the strength that God has offered you.
Love,
Elder Brayton
Talks and teachings
May 29, 2017
Hi to all of my family and friends,
 |
| Skyping into Conference |
Hi to all of my family and friends,
This week, I spoke in church. I got to speak about the stumbling blocks that often come up in life. It was sweet because this time I was told that I had to talk in advance. Last week I talked about opposition and this isn't exactly the same thing. Where opposition could be an actual trial or something that you can put a label on, the stumbling blocks that we come across can be anything that impedes our belief or understanding -- as well as normal obstacles to progress. It was a little different, but I learned a lot and am excited for this week coming up. Tomorrow the missionaries that are in the city of Arica are going to have a conference with the President of the MTC in Santiago. After the conference, my district is going to have a Q&A with him so he can help new missionaries coming into the field. I´m exited to help in any way I can. Within the district, we have been doing a lot of things very different than normal. Things that are within the rules of the mission but outside of the normal. So I think that is maybe why he wants to see what's different.
It is looking like we are going to have another marriage in the sector. We had one of our investigators come up to us after a lesson and he told us that he wanted to get married to his girlfriend. So we are going to help him make that happen in these next couple of weeks. They are so awesome! Claudia and Jercko have been coming to all of the activities these last couple of weeks and she brings all 3 of her kids to church even though her kids behave terribly. But the ward helps out them and everyone grabs a kid and tries to keep them calm and entertained. She has been loving that and even though he cant come to church because of work, he is progressing really well.
I hope that you all have a great week!
Love,
Elder Brayton
Opposition in all things
May 22, 2017
Dear Family and Friends,
This week was cambios {transfers}. I got lucky and both me and my companion are staying. But there were several changes within our zone. Now I'm living with a district leader from the other district and I think the president wants me to help him out. The zone, from what I can see is, doing a lot better. Now this past week I have been studying a ton about the role and the need of opposition in life. We know that even though it isn't pleasing, it helps us grow. And sure enough... the same week I get sick. It's never enough to just read about something, hay que experimentarlo {you have to experiment}. So I got to learn something great! One of the most difficult things for me, and I think everyone, is to accept the will of God. But whenever I strive to always find the good, or find the reason that something might be happening....I will find it!!
2 Nephi 2:11
For it must needs be, that the
D&C 122:7
.....know thou, my son, that a
I love you all and I hope that you have a good week.
Love,
Elder Brayton
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