Mano del desierto 1/25/2016

Posing with the Hand of the Desert

This week has been a busy week! On Wednesday every missionary in the world took part in a world wide training broadcast. Everything in the broadcast was translated into Spanish so it was a good opportunity to take some notes. My Spanish has made leaps and bounds these past 2 weeks. I can understand pretty much everyone most of the time but now I am having trouble talking back to people. I can have a conversation but not all of the words come to me as naturally as I would like them to. But that is one of the things that I am going to have to practice these next couple of months. Guess that is why every missionary have a 3 month training, I am almost done with my first month of training and I cant wait to be done.

 

Also I had the opportunity to help open an area this week during intercambios (exchanges) with other Elders that work near us. Whenever an area is opened that is brand new for the Elders that are working in that area and it was an awesome experience to help work in this area. All together my companion and I had 3 different intercambio in one week.

And lastly today for our preparation day we asked some members to take us to the Mano del Desierto! ( Hand of the Desert ) It was like an hour drive out of Antofagasta and it is in the middle of nowhere. But it was cool to go and see it, I'm not really sure of the back story behind it. * see end of blog

I want to talk really quick about the day to day life in Antofagasta. We do a lot of walking, no missionaries have cars or bikes in the entire mission because the roads are really crazy. There is a public transport system of buses that can take you anywhere in Antofagasta for a little less than $1 USD if you can figure out what bus number you need. But we never use them unless we need to get somewhere far away. Our area isn't huge but it is extremely steep. Some of the streets that we track on I just about need to crawl up.

Thanks for all the emails!

Elder Brayton 

 Mano del desierto

The scorched moonscape of Atacama stretches for hundreds of miles on both sides of the Pan-American Highway, undisturbed by any sign of human activity. About 75km south of the town of Antofagasta, its monotony is shattered by a sight even more alien then the desert itself, and yet undoubtedly human: an 36-foot-tall hand protruding out of the sand.

Mano de Desierto is a work of the Chilean sculptor Mario Irarrázabal, built in the early 1980s. It was financed by a local booster organization called Corporación Pro Antofagasta.

This views shows the size of the sculpture.

Road trip to the desert!

January 18, 2016

Thrilled with the amazing pkg from Doctors Kunkle & Powers!

I have to keep this short and sweet because I don't have a ton of time. This week has been awesome! I got some packages from some amazing people (Mishae and Drs. Kunkle and Powell's office (Cooper's dentist here at home). We found a ton of new investigators, and I found some English speakers!

We got almost 15 new investigators in 2 days which is like some kind of record. I met a Canadian that has been living here for 2 years with his family.  I also found a lady from Savannah GA that is a member of the church that is from Antofagasta and is an archaeologist. What's more is that she knows some people from my stake.( Walkers) And the packages full of food that I can't give enough thanks to the people that send some American food to me and also some sweet ties and socks!

Sorry this is so short I promise to write more next week!

Love, Elder Brayton

Think the Ginger stands out?

Imagine finding a soccer ball in Chile! Reunited & it feels so good! ;-)

 

More goodies from the package!

Once Upon a Time...

    * For some reason Elder Brayton has been unable to upload pictures from his camera the past 2 weeks. I've added a few earlier ones to this post. 

Studying

Book of Mormon in Spanish

"Once upon a time there was a magical place where it never rained, the end"-Holes

They were really talking about Antofagasta when they said that. It has been so hot this week for whatever reason. But it has been really rewarding this week as well. I had the opportunity to go on splits with the APs (assistant to the president) this week and during that time we got a baptism date for one of our investigators. And then we got another this week with Edith, she is from Colombia and has been super receptive. And then lastly Erick, who already has a date for his baptism, gave me a sweet tie just being nice after a lesson one day.

Spanish is still coming faster than I ever expected but I still need to take time every-now and then to tell myself that I am only 2 weeks into the field. Before my language training,  I'm not sure what I expected when I would be learning a new language. But all I have to say is that there is no easy way to learn a language, but if you do have to learn a language then surround yourself with people that are patient and people that don't know English. I have been really blessed with a good trainer, and a good ward. The members of the ward are willing to do just about anything to help out with missionary work.

Also being a Chilean is a very different lifestyle than living in America. For example, milk comes in a box and soda is cheaper than water. Something else is that is different is that lunch is the main meal of the day. So for breakfast I usually have a some bread and juice, and lunch is so much food! It's like a 4 course meal in the middle of the day, and then dinner is just something small usually before bed. I haven't eaten anything super weird yet, just lots of rice and chicken. Talk to you guys next week! 

Elder Brayton 

For you amusement the afore-mentioned box milk!

First Assignment in Chile!

Reading my first assignment

Elder Giadach from Chile is Elder Brayton's trainer for the next 3 months

I have finally made it to Chile! The flight here from Mexico wasn't terrible, except at one point one of our elders thought that he had lost his boarding pass. But by the time we made it to Santiago, we ran into another group of missionaries that were headed to Antofagasta from the MTC that is in Santiago. Non of them spoke English but one of the Hermanas (sisters) in the other group is from Haiti, so she knows French, Spanish, and a little bit of English so I thought that was really cool.

Anyway let me tell you about Chile and the people and my trainer. Antofagasta looks like Nevada with an ocean. But it is beautiful here. I haven't gotten sunburn yet which is good because it is the middle of summer here. And the Chileans are the nicest people you have ever met but they speak Spanish soooo fast. And more often than not to help them speak even faster they will cut off the last parts of their words so that they can go even faster! So coming here I feel like I am having to relearn Spanish, but its all good. I've been told that after about 3 months I will fit right in. And during that 3 months I am assigned a trainer. My trainer is Elder Giadach. And even though it is very hard now I know It will help me in the long run, but Elder Giadach is a CHILEAN!! He is from a city south of Santiago by about 4 hours. So this means that he talks so fast and also doesn't know much English. But this is giving me so much more practice with my Spanish then I could have imagined! I can already start to help in lessons and can understand about 1/3 of what people are saying. I can understand my companion almost 80% of the time because I listen to him all the time! But this is his last 3 months in the mission, so I am going to help him finish strong!

Oh and for my first area I am in Quito A in Antofagasta, Which is right in the heart of the city so I meet some interesting people, and I will be here for the next 3 months at least while I complete my training!

From here out I will not have enough time to respond to everyone but I would still like to hear from y'all!

Elder Brayton     

Elders headed to Chile from the Mexico MTC

Elders and Sisters leaving the Mexico MTC for Antofagasta Chile

Safe arrival in Chile!

President & Sister Dalton with Elder Brayton

 

 

¡¡Saludos de Chile!!

We are pleased to inform you of the safe arrival of Elder Cooper Scott Brayton in the Chile Antofagasta Mission. We are thrilled to have Elder Brayton serving here with us.  It was a pleasure to greet him at the airport today and spend some time getting to know him.

Thank you for the sacrifices you are making and the support you are giving him while he serves. We know he will appreciate the support he receives from home and you will be blessed for having a missionary in the field.

We have attached photos of Elder Brayton taken in front of our signature Antofagasta landmark, La Portada, with the city of Antofagasta in the background. 

The Lord is hastening the Work of Salvation and this is an amazing time to be a missionary.  Elder Brayton is needed here and we are so grateful he has chosen to serve a mission.  We will care for him as if he were our own.

With much love,

President & Sister Dalton

Chile Antofagasta Mission

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Last Time from Mexico City!

 

Presents delivered to the Mexico City MTC creates smiles!

Feliz Navidad!

WOW! My time here at the MTC has flown past. It seems like yesterday I was just getting ready to teach my first Investigator. And now it is not uncommon for Elder Eagar and I to teach 4 in one day. Crazy to think about how much I have learned in just this first transfer. Transfers happen every 6 weeks, and usually involve either a change in your area or a change in companionship. For this particular transfer I am getting both. I am being transferred from the Mexico MTC to somewhere in the Antofagasta Mission and I will be assigned a trainer. All a trainer is, is a missionary that (hopefully) has more patience than most others. I don't know who he is yet but I will meet him this next week and he will help me continue to learn the Spanish, learn about the cultures in Chile, and make sure I don't get into too much trouble.

Everyone but 2 people are going to Chile in my District. One hermana (sister) is going to the Dominican Republic, and another is headed to Oakland, California. 

Also because I am leaving the MTC and going to the field my new p-day will be on Mondays. Yeah, so I leave this Monday and head down to Santiago just right after lunch and the plan is that we land in Santiago on Tuesday morning and then catch another flight to Antofagasta and land there just before lunch time. All together it will be about 20 hours of traveling to get to my mission home and possibly more depending on where I am assigned for my first transfer. All and all I am excited and nervous to be headed out into the field but just like any other challenge I am going to try and face it head on! 

One last thing! For Christmas I want everyone to reply and tell me about what is going on in your life or whats going on in the world. Mainly I just want to hear from everyone and see how they are doing. Thanks Guys!!!

Love, 

Elder Brayton

  Mark 16:15

 

Elder Edgar and Elder Brayton

MTC bus to the Mexico City Temple

Walking the walk!

 

One Month In!!

Happy missionary with M&M's from Grammy & Grandpa

Some things that happened this week. I am a little sad because my latino friends left this past week. They only stay in the MTC for a week and a half because they know the language and all. But every other week we get another group of latinos and americans. It is crazy to think that I only have a week and a half left in the MTC, after that they are shipping me out to Chile! 

One of the things that happened this past week was in Mexico it was the celebration of St. Guadalupe's birthday. So all week there were fireworks going off all the time leading up until Friday. And on Friday it sounded like we were in a war zone, luckily the mountain didn't catch on fire again. This week we watched the temple dedication of the Tijuana temple so that was a pretty spectacular experience! 

Anyways I had an experience this week that I wanted to share with you. I remember grandpa (Brad) telling me something about one of our cousins (Spencer Foster) mission and how he was so in tune with the spirit that while he was teaching a discussion, whenever the father or someone of the family walked into the room the spirit left and whenever he left the spirit returned. Well that exact experience hasn't happened to me yet, but I can tell when It is present during a lesson. This past Friday me and my companion were teaching a lesson to one of our "investigators", and it's really just one of our teachers pretending to be an investigator from there mission. Anyways I know that the spirit was there in that discussion, I was able to say words in spanish that I had never learned before and every thought and question that came into my mind I know did not come from my own mind, I was guided by the spirit all the way to the end of the lesson. And at the very end our "investigator" who was really our teacher was in tears and so was my companion and I. And that next day in class we listened to an Elder Holland quote about the power that comes from teaching by the spirit. That is is for this week!

    

(this paragraph from Beau's email)

The Spanish is a love hate relationship. Somedays I can speak it great and learn stuff, other days it feels like I can't speak Spanish or English. I got your package, whenever I first looked at the shirt I was wondering what you were smoking, and then I read it and it's a sweet shirt. I am all healthy now, I just have a little bit of a sore throat.For Christmas I can call, no video chat though, and it will either be on the 24th or 25th.

Sorry that this is so short this week we have been really busy all week and I am already out of time!

Love,

Elder Brayton

 not sure where the selfie stick came from...

contents of package from Grammy & Grandpa

Mormon Energy shirt from Beau

They are after all still young people...more selfies!

 

Mexico City Missionary Training Center