June 4, 2012

everything is going amazing. this week was awesome we had some amazing lessons and found so really good people and saw some great progress in the people that we already have. I know it sounds corny but the mission really is the best two years there is no other way to describe it. i will be eternally grateful for these two years and all the many lessons i have learned. i cant fully express in words how i feel about the mission but it really is the best experience that i could ever ask for, and i have learned and grown so much. I cant thank my Father in Heaven enough for allowing me to serve Him for this two years. if any young man doesnt want to serve it is only because they dont understand what they are turning down, they are turning down the chance in a life time if they take advantage of it. nothing could be more rewarding or gratifying than serving a mission, not finishing school, not playing for a sports team, or (yes i am going to say it) u of a winning a national championship. before the mission i thought i knew a lot about the gospel and that i was pretty smart. in the mtc i quickly found out how little i knew. then leaving the mtc after 9 weeks of diligent study i once again felt confident in my knowledge. once again entering the field i became very aware of all my many weaknesses. but with time, patience, diligence, and the grace and divine help of God you grow and progress and little by little loss your fears and your insecurities. i can honestly say that i have worked my hardest and really tried to be obedient my whole mission which brings me such a satisfaction. i really do know that Book of Mormon is true and changes lives. Read it everyday and you will have the strenght to do anything. the small amount of success i have achieved up to this point in my life i contribute 100% to reading the Book of Mormon every day. thanks so much for all your letters and support and good examples i couldnt ask for a better family. love Elder Brimhall

May 28, 2012

this week was great. on saturday there was a huge storm i have never seen such powerful wind and rain. the wind was just ripping off roofs and knocking down signs and trees. they told us that we couldnt be in the street that we had to just go to visits because it was dangerous to be in the street. i have never been so wet. all my rain gear got soaked. i have rain paints but they got soaked. at first i was trying to avoid walking in puddles but after a while i was just completely soaked so i just started to walk through them. the streets were all flooded and looked like rivers. it was a really cool and neat experience. at the night we had to go home early at 7 30 because all the power was cut and it was all black and we could see anything. the next day sunday we had a conference in Lota and on the trip we saw all the trees that were just blown down with the wind. it is crazy to think about the power of nature. very few members went to the conference, i think because of the rain and the wind. sometimes in life we look for a reason not to do things. we look for a way not to go to church or not to complete with our calling instead of looking for how we can do it. that is the attitude we must work to develop a never quitting never giving up do whatever it takes and is required. really in the mission you get to see and asscioate with so many people and see what type of person you want to become and what type of family you want to have. really those who put the Lord 1st before all things are the only ones that are truly happy. as we concecrate our lives we are promised all that He has. As we give our will to God we win, when we surrender our will and gain the will of the Father we win. The most important lesson that i have learned in the mission is that Heavenly Father really does love us and wants the best for us and when we obey His commandments we are blessed and happy, and when we dont for whatever reason we aren´t. That i really do know with all my heart. I know that this is the only true church on the face of the Earth that really is guided and directed by Jesus Christ himself through revelation. Elder Brimhall

May 22, 2012

this week was great the president changed our p day to tuesday instead of monday, because it was a vacation day yesterday so we could find more people at home. it was cool. today with the zone we went to the mine of Lota it was good, a little over priced but it was cool and it was really interesting to see how they used to live and the things that they had to do to survive. i would have died if i had to work in the mine i couldnt stand up the whole time i had to stay hunched. but it was cool. we found a lot of great people this week and baptized again which is always a great week. i had interviews with the president, it was my last interview before i leave which is crazy. it was great President is a great guy and so nice he is always so fun to talk to. Arauco is good but in the comite that we have with the branch president there was a rebelion. so me and my companion were there with president and two other members. the other members both rebeled and one of them said that he wasnt going to go to arauco anymore and was going to go to lota to church. it was a pretty intense situtation but now it is a lot calmer, but it got pretty heated for a while. i just tried to stay neutral but it was definetly an interesting experience. we are working really hard and having lots of success it has been great. it is starting to get pretty cold and rain more often. the rain here is pretty intense. so all is well i am doing great. elder brimhall

May 7, 2012

hey hows it going. things here are doing well. we are working really hard and are doing our best. they changed our ward mission leader on sunday. so afterwards i went over to talk to him and was like ok so what day can you leave with us and he was like i cant i am busy with work, and stuff like that. so it was a little frusturing because he really doesnt want to do anything. i feel sometimes like Moroni when he is writing his letter to Pahoran and is like get off your butt and do something we are doing the best we can but we cant do it on our own. but arauco is good, the investigators are great and the people are great. the leaders are a little difficult but i dont want to complain, but it is a little hard because they dont want to do very much. so we are still working really hard. we had a great week. tommorrow there are cambios but we are staying together which is great because my companion is great. he is a humble hard worker. so i am doing great, arauco is doing a lot better as well. love you all Elder Brimhal

April 30, 2012

this week went by really fast. on monday we found out that the family that was inactive and we help bring them back to church and were going to baptize their 11 year old daughter wanted to do the baptism on wednesday in stead of friday because some of their family had to work on friday and wasnt able to attend. so we did an intercambio on tuesday and so we baptized on wednesday. then on thursday i had to go to an interview for 2 teenager girls that are twins. when i got their they were both really unsure and didnt want to get baptized this week and wanted to wait longer. so we talked for a little while and i asked them if they thought that God wanted them to get baptized they both answered yes. so i said that we should ask Him when he wanted them to get baptized. so we prayed and right after the prayer they both changed completely. i asked them what was the answer they had received and they both said tommorrow Friday. it was awesome so i did the interview and they both got baptized. it was amazing to see the change in them, change which obviously comes from the spirit. then on friday i did another intercambio and had to do another interview for baptism. we found several really good people as well. then on saturday i finally went back to my sector and we baptized a really good guy. we found him my first week here in arauco and challenged him to get baptized the first lesson and he said yes and has been so excited for his baptism ever since. it was great the ward mission leader baptized him. so it was a week of miracles. it was awesome to see. miracles come from the spirit and the spirit only is with us if we are humble. and realize that it is not in our power that the miracles happen. it was awesome. so everything is going really well it was a really fast week. thanks for all the letters and support. love Elder Brimhall

April 23,2012

this week once again was awesome. church was great all the people that had baptismal dates went to chruch and this week we have a baptism. it is amazing to see the miracles that happen. but to have miracles you have to do all that is in your power. i was reading in Alma 60 21 where Moroni is writing to Pahoran, and he basically says you cant just sit on your throne and think that God is going to save you. to have the help of the Lord we first have to do all we can, do everything that is in our power. to really have faith we have to know that the course of our life is in line with the commandments of God. to have faith you have to be diligently working and being obedient. arauco still has some problems with members talking bad about other members and them getting offended and then talking bad about them, and it is a constant cycle. i really liked Pres Utchdorfs talk this last conference about not gossiping or talking bad about others. it really does no one any good and just causes problems. but the branch is doing a lot better. this week was funny we were knocking doors and this evanglical guy answered the door and was telling us that our church was false and that we didnt have the Holy Ghost, so then i tried to explain to him Acts 8, but then he was like if you really have the spirit tell me of something in my life that no one else knows. then i said you do it first to give me an example, and then he said i would but i dont have time right now. it was funny pretty much everything confuses us with the Jehova Witnesses so they think that we dont believe in the Holy Ghost. this week we had a capacitation which was cool after President Martinez was talking to us and said if we could take off the veil and see before this life and see who we were and we we are to be where we are today as missionaries, we would not be able to support it. he challenged us to find out who we really are and to always remember it. a lof of the mistakes that we make in this life comes from not understanding or forgetting who we are. it was really interesting i really liked the conference. so all is well things are going great, thanks so much for the letters. love you lots Elder Brimhall

April 16, 2012

this week was great. arauco is such a great sector with such great
people. the members here are a little lazy but they are starting to
get excited and work harder and this week in church it showed the
asistance jumped and it was awesome to see. my companion is great he
is such a humble good missionary, that has so much desire to learn. it
is starting to get a little colder here but not to bad yet. the
climate is a lot different than Los Angeles where it was blazing hot
it is really nice here. this week i have really thought about the
importance of waiting and being patient. there is a mormon message
that is amazing by President Utchodorf (i have no idea how to spell
his name). that talks about patience, and another one by Elder Holland
about how good things will come. really it is so true. sometimes in
life and i know in the mission we ask why we are not receiving all the
blessings that we think we are entitled to or why things are working
out how they should, but really the key is patience, diligence, and
faith as it talks about in Alma 32. there is a phrase that is in the
Book of Mormon that i love that is repeated over and over again if you
keep my commandments you will be prospered in the land. i know that
promise is true. the blessings may not come in our time, but they
always come if we do our part. i know that God really does love us,
and truly has a plan for us. looking back over my mission every single
companion has been exactly what i needed in that time. every sector
has been exactly what i needed. every struggle, every challenge, every
hardship has been experiences that i needed to have to grow and
progress and become what the Lord wants me to be. dont ever give up,
keep going and it will be alright in the end, just keep going forward
and never back down. i still lack so much but i have grown a lot in
the mission and i am eternally thankful for the experiences that i
have had and will continue to have for the next 3 and a half months. i
love the mission i love the Lord, and i love my family thanks for your
great examples.

Elder Brimhall