November 28, 2011

this week was amazing. i feel really spoiled with my cambio. my companion is awesome he is so funny and cracks me up so much and is a really hard worker. the sector is awesome, it is in the city of Los Angeles and there are a lot of richer people but they are pretty nice for the most part. the ward is great and really loves the missionaries. the lunches here are the best i have had in my whole mission, this week for desert we had ice cream everyday. it is a little hot but being from arizona you get used to the heat. the only thing is that the ozone layer here is really thin and so you get sun burnt pretty bad if you dont use sunscreen. but everything is awesome, i couldnt be more happy. we live in a house of 4 which is also cool because in the morning you can go and play basketball which is pretty cool as well. so everything is great. today we played soccer on a full size field it was fun i am still not the greatest but it was a lot of fun. then we went and ate some huge hot dogs. i dont remember if i have already told you about chilean hotdogs or not, but they call them completos and they are really prideful about them. they put avocado and tomato on them and a ton of mayonesa and they think they are the greatest things in the world. they are pretty good, its kind of an interesting idea who would have thought to put tomates on a hot dog but it works out pretty well. its crazy that christmas is coming up, i totally forgot about thanksgiving until it was over, so we ended up not doing anything for christmas but it will be a lot of fun for christmas here. this week went by really fast, the time here changed so now it doesnt get dark until 9 so it messes me up because i always think it is earlier and they changed the schedule of the mission so now we have to get in the house a half an hour earlier. so all is well it was an awesome week, and we are going to try to make this one even better.

love

Elder Brimhall

November 21, 2011

this week was really good, we ended the cambio really good and worked really well. we got cambios this week and i am leaving to San Martin which is a ward in Los Angeles which is a pretty big city. i am really excited. when i first got my cambio President Martinez called me and told me i was going to Pitrufquen which is the very bottom of the mission, and told me i was going to zone leader there. i was a little nervous because i still havent been in the south of the mission yet and apparentlly it is a lot harder there, at least that is what i have heard, and they baptize a lot less. so i was getting myself all excited about goign to the south and working hard, and then the zone leaders called me to tell me i am going to san martin to still be a zone leader but of Los Angeles south. i am really excited i think it will be a great chance to grew and progress more. in all my cambios so far it has been exactly what i have needed to progress and get better. my last companion was a little harder but i really did learn so much from him and am really grateful that i was able to be his companion. the Lord really does know the beginning from the end and knows exactly where He needs you and with who. i am going to be with Elder Plier who is awesome i have always wanted to be his companion, we are good friends, so i am really excited to work with him. i feel really blessed. the mission is the best. you go through hard times and struggles but afterward you really do receive more blessings than you have room for. something that i have been doing this week that has helped me this week is talking more about joseph smith, a lot of times people here in chile think that we worship him and that he is our god, so sometimes we avoid talking of him and talk more of christ, but this week i made a point to bear my testimony in every contact about joseph smith and it really does make so much of a difference. you really do feel the spirit as you bear your testimony no matter how simple your testimony is, but even more so when you bear it of the Restoration of the Gospel. i am really excited and feel really blessed. everything is going awesome. I love the mission so much and couldnt imagine being anywhere else.

love you all

Elder Brimhall

November 14, 2011

this week went well. on thursday we had our conference, which was good. it started at 8 10 in the morning so we had to wake up at 5 in the morning to get ready. it is kind of sad but we didnt get to hear the apostole which ended up being Elder Cook, but it was still really good, and they didnt come down to start the temple so i really dont know when they are going to start it, hopefully before i go home, so i can be here. we got to hear Elder Zeballos from the 1 st quorum of 70, he was actually the mission president of this mission right before President Swenson, and President McMullan from the presiding bishopric. Elder Cook went to the other mission the mission Chile Concepcion, but everything happens for a reason, and i still really liked the talks of the people we heard. it was worth it to wake up at 5. i really liked the talk of President McMullan he talked about you can have 2 sorts of testimonies, one that you know from reading and studying the scriptures, and the other that you feel in your bones and that burns within you. he talked about his son who wasnt sure if the church was true and so for that wasnt sure if you was going to serve a mission. so he asked him if he know that the church wasnt true, and his son said no. so he responded of course not because it is, and the way your going to get your testimony is going on a mission and testifying of it, you arent going to get your testimony walking around the campus of byu. and so the son left and developed his testimony. i really liked the conference. this week i have learned the importance of having a good attitude. no matter what is happening around us, it is so important to have a good attitude. a lot of times we cant control a lot of things that happen but you can always control your attitude. today for p day we went with our zone to el salto del laja which is a big waterfall, that was really fun. it is really pretty and has this mist which was really nice today because it was really hot. in one more week there are cambios, and have been with my companion for 2 cambios. he is good, it was a little tough with him at times but that is always the catch because with companions like that you learn and grow so much more. he really has helped me learn a lot and grow a lot so i am really grateful for my time with him. so we will see what happens with cambios.

love you all

Elder Brimhall

November 7, 2011

this week was really fast. like i said last week we went and had a whole mission activity which was really fun. tuesday we had our district zone conference which we have every week. wednesday a companionship came to sleep in our house because thursday we had another conference in concepcion. thursday we went to concepcion for the conference. friday i had to do an intercambio in los angeles. saturday i returned from the intercambio, and today monday i had to go to concepcion again to do some paperwork for my visa. so it was a really crazy week lots of travel. last thursday we had a conference just for the leaders of the mission it was really good. Elder Richards who is from the 2 nd quorom of 70 spoke to us. i learned a lot. he shared with us DC 138 where it talks about many spirits that were chosen before this life to come here in this time. in verse 56 it says that many other spirits were chosen along with people such as Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. he turned to us and told us that we are the many others that this verse refers to. it was really powerful. he talked about the importance of the spirit and obedience. it was really really good. this thursday we have another conference with one of the twelve apostoles who is going to talk to our whole mission i have heard rumors about almost every apostle so really i have no idea who is coming but it will be really cool, i am really excited. it is always awesome to get to hear a general authority speak they really do have a special spirit with them, and they always know so much, especial the scriptures. today on the bus to concepcion i read in the last conference the talk by Elder Oaks about desires. i really liked it. he says that to become a celestial being we have to develop the attributes of celestial beings. that is what i have realized on my mission, it really matters the person we are, our nature. its not just about doing the right thing, its about changing, and doing the right thing for the right reason because we love God and want to please Hiim. everything here in the sector is really good, there are cambios in 2 weeks and i think sadly i am going to leave but we are going to just keep working hard and make sure we finish strong. thanks for everything, love you lots

with love

Elder Brimhall