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