July 23, 2012

wow. the mission is going great. arauco is doing really well, well at least the missionary work we are still kind of struggling with the branch to do their visits but we are working really hard. me and my companion talked in sacrament meeting and i thought it went well. i talked about retention, and used a quote by John Taylor that goes something like this. We will be responsible for those that we could have saved if we would have done our duty that was assigned to us. that is so true and is true until the end. if there is one lesson that i have learned in the mission it would be this Put God before everything else. there is a huge difference in the families that do it and those that dont. there is a different spirit for those that really serve with all their might mind and strength to edify the kingdom of God. I know that this work is true and real. This is the kingdom of God on the earth today and it is our calling and responsiblty to make sure that the kingdom keeps striving and keeps moving forward. The mission has been focusing a lot on Real Growth of the Church and it starts with the indivual testimony of all the members. I really know with all the assurity of my heart that this is the work of the Lord. That this is his church and his gospel. i have no doubt what so ever. I know that God really is our Heavenly Father that loves us and answers our prayers, and that if we endure to the end we will receive eternal glory and rewards that in this life we cant fully understand. every calling is build the kingdom and build ourselves and our testimony. not so that we can receive earthly glory and praise or men or be caught away in our pride. that is one of the most important lessons that i have learned on my mission be humble and recognize the Lords hand in everything. never brag about what we have accomplished or have done because without the Lord we would be nothing. Humility is the key to opening the powers of heaven. Charity and love are the key to being happy in this life. without them we will never experience a fullness of joy. The importance of being patient and diligent to receive the blessings of the Lord and never giving up. And the most important thing is that Jesus Christ lives and is the Savior of the world, and that through His Atonement all man might be saved through obedience to His Laws and Ordenances. The mission has been amazing and i will never forget these two years. Rest assured this last week i will give all i have to seal this two years as an offering to Christ and as a demostration of my love and gratitud for all that He has given me. thanks for everything. Elder Brimhall

July 17, 2012

wow. this was great. we had a good week saw a ton of progress in the people we are teaching, and have tons of people progressing for baptism. it has been so great. today i got to go back to lebu to see a lot of the families we baptized when i started the mission. it was such an amazing experience to see them again. i really do love them so much. i forgot how much i really loved lebu and such walking through the streets i remembered so many experiences and all the hard times we passed in the beginning and then the overload of blessings we received in the end. really a lot of times life is like that. it has been that way for me in most of my sectors. it is always hard at the beginning but as you keep working and keep doing the best you can, at the end you get an overload of blessings. life is the same when it is hard just keep going just keep trying and it will all work out in the end. they changed our p day yesterday to today because yesterday was a vacation so they changed it so we could find more families. it was a great day yesterday, we had members with us the whole day for all our lessons and it went really really well. i was on an intercambio with Elder Lamoreaux my comp from the MTC so that was fun to see him again. wow everything is going great i really do just love these people today it was really hard to leave them. i miss lebu a lot i think you always have that special connection with your first sector, but life goes on and so does the mission, you just have to make the most of it. so thanks for everything love you lots. Elder Brimhall

July 9, 2012

this week was great. we have a ton of people that are progressing really good right now. it is a fun time to be a missionary. this week passed by so fast. on the 4 rth of July this member cooked us a barbecue that was really really good (we had to pay $10 but it was very worth it. the branch is doing well right now, finally they are really stressing visits, so hopefully we will see a little progress in that aspect. we worked really hard this week and it was just fun. we taught this catholic lady that her husband died a few years ago. her pastor or whatever they are called in english told her that she would never be able to be with him again as a family that they wouldnt recognize each other after they would be just brother and sister. i asked her how she felt about that. she said a little sad. i asked her if she thought that that feeling came from God and if he wanted her to be sad. she said no. then we taught her a little about the plan of salvation and eternal marriage. she really loved it. it is really sad that so many people dont want to accept the truth and chose to believe the traditions of their parents instead of the eternal truths of the gospel. the mission is amazing, anyone that doesnt want to go on a mission or whats to go home early, or is trunky, or doesnt work hard, doesnt understand the importance of the gospel and the message we carry to the world, or the sacred responsibility the mission is. so dont worry be assured that i will be working hard until the end. this morning we went to the beach and ran it was a lot of fun, it was so pretty with the sun rise. we found a couple of cool shells so it was cool. i am not in the best shape but i can still take out james jk. but seriously. i am really not ready for the mission to end i really would love to extend but i still have 3 weeks left so we will make the most out of it. thanks for all the letters and support love you lots. Elder Brimhall

July 3, 2012

wow this week went by really fast. my companion is awesome he is really funny and a good missionary. he is new so he comes with all that excitement and desire. things in arauco are doing well. this week church went really well we had a lot of investigators and a lot of inactives or less actives coming back. it was testimony meeting which was really cool you never know here how they are going to go but it was really good i felt the spirit really strongly. a lot of members shared about the restoration which is always a good way to invite the spirit. this week the goal was to find families, so we were working really hard for that goal. so we planned out really well prayed really hard and picked out a street and a time we were going to contact the street. i felt really good about it and knew that we were going to find the family. so we went and started contacting, nothing. no one wanted to receive us. so we kept going. nothing. so we left that place and went to another sector nothing. it is getting a little frusturating because we had prayed and really had looked for revalation and i felt that i had received it, but we got nothing. but we kept going and kept contacting, and then we talked to a man and he let us in. he was there with all his family and we taught him the restoration and it went really well and they understood great. it was such a testimony of just being persistent. just keep going even when nothing is going how you want it to just keep trying just keeping pushing and you will have success. it was a really cool experience. the mission is amazing, there is no better time. everything is awesome thanks so much for all your letters. Elder Brimhall

June 25, 2012

this week was awesome. my new son is from Chile from Santiago his name is Elder Segovia. He is great really funny and going to be a great missionary. he is really humble as well, so it is going to be a great cambio with him. we worked really good this week and saw a lot of blessings. on saturday i had one of the coolest experiences of my mission. i got to go back to San Martin my old sector and baptize the wife of one of my best converts. in san martin it was a little tough we were working really hard and doing the best we could but we really didnt see that many fruits for a while, but at the end Dario her husband just started to progress like crazy and got baptized and now she got baptized. he gave his testimony at her baptism and it was so great he shared about tithing, and prayer. but it really was one of the most powerful experiences of my mission. i really felt God´s love and really felt like that all the sacrifices i made and all the work we did was worth it for that one moment. i really know that God answers prayers and really blesses us more than we can ever imagine if we just trust him and never give up. every struggle is for our good and in the end if we endure it well it will be for our good. it was just an amazing experience. i know that God really does love us and wants us to be happy and that every trial we have is for our good. the mission is like the movie karate kid sometimes, where you have all these rules and are doing all this things that you dont understand why but as you keep waxing on and off you develop skills and talents that you never thought about and you progress and then you look back and understand why you had to go through all those drills and training. the mission is the best, really if there is one thing that i have learned is that obedience is the key to success and that when we obey we are blessed. i know that sounds really simple but its true. thanks for everything love you lots Elder Brimhall

June 18, 2012

this was an amazing week we saw so many miracles. i got my cambio and i am going to train again. i really enjoyed it so it will be fun to do it again. i wanted to but i didnt think i would because there were only 3 news coming and i had already trained twice, but president called me again so hopefully it all works out again. new missionaries are always great they come with such great excitement and have no limits to what they can accomplish. in life there is no ceiling only the ceiling we put, we really can accomplish anything with God´s help, but with time sometimes we lose a little of our faith, but it is always important to remember that with the Lord´s help anything is possible. today we went to concepcion to say goodbye to a couple of my friends that are going home Elder Lewis is actually from Thatcher and is going home right now, he is a really good guy, also my favorite companion Elder Pliler. our sector is doing really well, the branch is a little lazy still but the district president came down and gave a couple of palos so hopefully that lights a fire in some of the members. there are a lot of people that try to justify not completing with their callings to spend time with their family. but there is time for both it is just a matter of planing out your time. i have really learned the importance of service in the mission. when we serve everyone wins, us, the Lord, and the people we serve, if we dont we all lose. it really all comes down to how converted we are to the gospel. if we are truly converted we will want to help others and share what we have with others members, inactive, and non members we all need the gospel. Heavenly Father doesn´t just want an elect few of his children to be saved, He wants all His children to be saved, He loves us all and wants us all to get eternal life, but He relys on us as his tools to help Him in this great task. i can personally testify of the great blessings we receive when we help in this great work when we forget about ourselves and serve others is when we really gain the most and are the happiest. I know this truly is a great and marvellous work that has started and that the Lord needs each and every one of us to help it grow. if i can say one thing it would be to MAGNIFY YOUR CALLING it doenst matter where you serve or what you do, give the very best you have and you will never regret it. one day we will have to appear before the Lord in the Judgement Day and have to give an accounting of all the opportunities we had to serve in his kingdom and what we did with them. This is the truth i feel it in every bone and know that it is true with assurety. thanks for everything Elder Brimhall

June 11, 2012

wow the mission is passing by so fast. this week was a little difficult just with trying to get the people to progress, but there was a cool miracle on sunday we were in the new convert investigator class and the lesson was on baptism, and this lady we have been working with for 3 months finally accepted a fecha for this weekend which was awesome. we found her my first week here and baptized her son, he was the easiest investigator ever we put the fecha in the first lesson and he was great. but she had already been baptized but after a lot of lessons and time she finally understood. it was cool to see the power of agency, and how much agency is really important. before it was like we were trying to drag her to get baptized, but after the spirit testified to her she understood and wanted to do it. we have a lot of really good people we are teaching but this week was a little hard with getting them to progress, but with every challenge and difficulity comes growth and progression. on tuesday i had an intercambio with Elder Badger who played football for Stanford a year ago when they were like 3 in the nation and won the orange bowl or something like that. but he was really cool we had a great time and worked hard. he was just a walk on but still it was cool he was on the team and knew a couple of famous players and the really good coach they have. so everything is going great this week is gonig to awesome, tomorrow we have a conference and the next week we have cambios so we will see what happens. love you lots Elder Brimhall

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

April 9, 2012

this week was great. the branch has a lot of challenges still but we
are working on that. i keep having to hound the branch president to
hurry up and get home and visiting teachers because they havent had
them for a while. but he promised me that this week they will so well
see. but the members are really nice. they gave us such good lunches
this week it was so nice. i thought the lunches would go down a lot
since i was in Los Angeles and the members there were all pretty well
off and always gave us great food, but it has been awesome here
aswell. the people here are really humble but really loving and give
you all they have. this week we found a lot of really good people and
everything in our sector is going great. this week was a funny here
like in all poorer towns there are tons of Evangelical people. so
there was this pastor guy talking in the microphone in the middle of
the road and they talk so loud. so he was talking about Jesus Christ
and how we just have to have faith to be saved and stuff like that. so
we passed by him and he looks at us and started saying in the
microphone you dont have to walk the streets of Arauco looking for a
religion to be saved. it made me laugh i thought it was so funny. then
the next day we went to this house where they told us to pass by the
next day. so we went and there on the wall they had written No
MORMONS!!!! once again it made me laugh. we had an FHE with a really
awesome family and a part member family and we watched the story of
John Tanner it was so amazing to see all the sacrifices that he made
for the church and it made me think of how little we do sometimes as
members compared with what the early saints had to go through. it is
such a testimony builder to hear stories of the early pioneers just to
think all they were willing to go through. So all here is doing great.
looking at it i could not have gotten a better cambio than to be here
in Arauco with the companion that i have. the Lord always knows what
He is doing never doubt HIm and His purposes. Trust in God and
everything will work out. there was this cool quote i heard that goes
like this if you accept and live the gospel there is nothing in your
life that will be permanently bad and if you dont there is nothing
that will be permanently good. it is so true. thanks for everything
love you all

Elder Brimhall

April 2, 2012

wow this was a really busy and interesting week. i thought i said it in my email but i was transfered to Arauco, which is right in between Lebu and Lota on the beach again. I am really happy because now i should be able to go back to both of those sectors and visit some of my converts, it will be awesome. i am definetly getting repaid for never having seen the ocean before in my life, now have 3 sectors right by it. my companion is named Elder Ancco he is a new missionary. it is so much easier to train a latin than a gringo like the first time. He is from Lima, Peru and is a really humble hard working missionary that has a ton of desire to be a good missionary. we get along really well. He already knows the language so it makes it 10 times easier to train him. we are both new to Arauco so the first few days were pretty crazy. Tuesday we had a meeting for all the trainers and then we met up with the newbies and they told us who were going to be our companions. so after that we took a bus to arauco and i called a member to see if he could meet us in the chapel so he could show us where we live. we live with the ward mission leader, he doesnt have a wife or kids he is an older guy really nice. so he took us to our house its nice really small, but nice. the first few days were pretty crazy because we had no idea where anything was, and the map was really bad it didnt have any of the streets names only the centro, so i tried to look it up on google maps, but it didnt have the names either. so we had to get lost a couple of times but now we have an idea of where everything is. it is a really humble sector as well with a lot of poorer people and lots of Evangelicals. this week went by really well we found a lot of really good people in our first week. conference was a little interesting. usually in all my other wards or branches in the mission they always have the conference in the church, but here they didnt. we missed the saturday morning session, and were able to watch the saturday afternoon with a member, and in the night our branch president told us they were going to watch the priesthood session in the chapel so we went and the internet didnt work so we werent able to watch it. we watched the sunday morning session ok, but then returned for the afternnon session and the door of the chapel was locked and there was no one there. so it looks like i am going to be reading the ensign a lot again. but from what i saw the conference really was awesome. so everything is good i am excited to be here in Arauco it is a lot like my other sectors before. i am excited to be with my companion he is a great missionary as well. so everything is looking up,




love


Elder Brimhall

March 26, 2012

so this week was amazing. we saw so many miracles. sunday was awesome, we had a lot of people in church, and the meeting was so poweful. it was fast and testimony meeting. in the last song How Great Thou Art, the two investigators sitting by me were crying, it was a really awesome experience. we are teaching this guy that is amazing he has come to church 4 weeks in a row and stays for all the meetings, and is awesome. he is married, completes with everything. we challenged him to be baptized and he wasnt 100 % sure, but after church he was there still waiting and so we asked him if there was something on his mind. he said that he wanted to get baptized as soon as possible. it was so awesome. he is amazing. I found out my cambios, i am going to go train and open a sector. it is going to be pretty crazy since i dont know the place and have never been there and will be training a new missionary. but i know that with the Lords help i can do all things. that is a lesson i have really learned in the last few cambios, the need to be humble and always depend on the Lord. i think that it is funny that we brag sometimes about our accomplishments especial as missionaries, how many people we baptized, how many times we trained, if we were zone leader or not, when really in God´s eyes it doesnt matter. He only asks us to do our best. the key to success is making sure that Heavenly Father is satisfied with what we are doing, and not worry about what people say or thing. worrying what people think or say, leads to comparison, and that leads to pride, the universal sin. but i am really excited it will be a fun experience. it was funny because a couple of people when they found out my cambio said that i was getting demoted, because i wouldnt be zone leader anymore, and it bothered me a little bit at first, but really there are no promotions, or demotions in the work of the Lord, it doesnt matter in what postion you serve it just matters how. so we are going to do the best we can and leave it all in the hands of the Lord they really dont have any investigators right now, so we will be opening from scratch. so i am really happy to leave the sector here really good, i really feel satisfied with the work we did, and at the end we were able to see great fruits. the key is to keep working not look back until its over, just keep progressing, keep moving forward. 5 months is still a very long time to help people change their lives and find eternal happiness. love you thanks for everything




Elder Brimhall

March 19, 2012

how time is flying by. every week just gets faster. this week we had interviews with the President, and a Conference with half the mission. the interviews with President went well. He is a really great guy. we had to teach about how to work with comité, i have no idea how to say that in English but it is the meeting that the missionaries have with the bishop and his counselors. as a mission we have been trying really hard to work more with the members and get them more involved. really so much depends on the members, as a missionary, you can bring people to church, but whether they stay or not is up to the members, but when they dont do it, you have to let them know and bring it to their attention. a lot of missionaries and members here complain about the inactivity but they dont do anything to change it. that is the key, never complain, if your not part of the solution, your part of the problem so if everyone had the attitude what can i do to help, the church would grow so fast. i have been thinking a lot about the pre earth life, and how we made convenants before coming here. we made promises with our Heavenly Father before coming here. but we dont remember them, so sometimes it is hard to fulfill them. but i know that i made a convent that i would share gospel with everyone that i could. i know that because i am here on the mission. but just because we made the convenant in the pre earth life doesnt mean that we are going to fulfill, it is our choice here in this life. i know that all of us made that convenant with our Heavenly Father that we would do all we could in this life to help as many of his children return to Him as possible. We do not have the Gospel, the key to eternal happiness, to keep it to ourselves, we have it to teach to others and bless the lives of others, and if we dont share it with them their sins will fall upon our heads Jacob 1 19. I feel bad sometimes thinking about my year in college and knowing that i did not do my best to share the gospel with some friends that i easily could have. regret is the worst feeling someone can have. so that is why i am doing the best in the mission so i can honestly say that i have no regrets, i did all i could to bring souls unto Christ. that is our goal in life help others obtain eternal life.


So anyways our conference was good as well. we had some doctors come and tells us some health tips, and we all got a flu shot. i really dont like flu shots i always get more sick with them, this week i was feeling a little sick but now i am doing great. everything is doing great. there are cambios next week so i will let you all know what happens.


love you lots


Elder Brimhall

March 12, 2012

wow its crazy that it is already my birthday. today was a lot of fun. we had an activity as a zone. it was called nations day, because we had missionaries from Uruguay, Peru, Argentina, 3 from Mexico, so everyone made a food from their country, it went well. it was kind of like the office when they have the ethnic day but a little less racist jk. we played american football as well which was cool. yesterday at church went really well. a lot of people went. after church we had to go do a service project for this old lady to clean up all this garbage in her backyard. they made it sound really urgent and that it had to be done that day. so in priesthood meeting the 2 counselor asked for anyone that could help and no one said anything. so me and my companion kind of had to raise our hands, but the coolest part, is that right after our investigator who is awesome raised his hand as well. so we were the only 3 that raised our hand. so the 2 nd counselor told us to be at the house at 6 30. so at 6 30 we show up and our investigator is there waiting for us. so we get in the house and find out that they have no tools at all to do anything. so we call the 2 nd counselor and tell him and he just tells us that he is still in a meeting and is going to come in a little bit more. so we had to run to this other members house and borrow some shovels and a wheelbarrow. so then at 7 00 we call the 2 nd counselor and he says he is on his way. comes 7 45 and we try to call him and he has his phone off. so it was a very disorganized service project but ended up ok, because we were there with our investigator and he is awesome, so we had a really good time. but for all those who want to know there are 3 keys to a service project. 1 Show UP!!!! 2 Show up on TIME!!! 3 Have all the tools and equipment ready. i was a little annoyed at the 2 counselor but its ok and all went well. i still havent talked to him yet but i am going to have to give him a couple palos. saturday we did an activity as a ward we made these surveys of 10 questions. so some ward members showed up and they went door to door doing the survey it went really well, and actually one of the girls they found saturday went to church on sunday and stayed for all 3 meetings so we are going to see how that works out. on sunday the family gave us sheep for lunch it was good, really fatty but good. this week we did a lot of intercambios which are always fun. so this week was really awesome. well hope everyone is good love you lots


Elder Brimhall

March 5, 2012

i cant believe we are already in march already it seems like i just had my last birthday a few months ago. the weather here is still nice but it is starting to get a little colder and rain a little more. in winter it is freezing cold with tons of rain, i have never been to oregon but it sounds similar to that. so i am just enjoying the weather while it lasts. all i eat right now is peach and oatmeal and milk in a shake. it is really good and really cheap. the oatmeal is 2 dolars for a kilo and peaches are 1.50 a kilo, which is like 2.2 pounds. so life is good. we still have a ton of people to teach and a lot of them are progressing really well. we had consejo on friday, with president martinez. he talked about pearl harbor and how the us was a sleeping giant up until that point. he compared it with the members of the church that they are a sleeping giant, that if we could wake them up kind of like pearl harbor did to the us, the church here would take off. i think that is true in any part of the world. if the members really woke up and worked together with the missionaries and were their source for finding people to teach it would be amazing and the church would double. i really liked his talk. the highest baptizing mission in the world is provo utah because they are just constantlly teaching all day, because they just get pure references, and dont have to do contacts. references are so much more effective and work so much better. there has been a lot of sales on ties so i have bought a bunch. also these jerseys were on sale so i bought a few. if anyone has any requests of things they want tell me now so i have time to look for them. thanks for everything hope all is well and that everyone is safe. always remember that the church is true, Jesus is the Christ, and if we endure to the end eternal life is our prize. these things i know to be true, and testify of them in the name of Jesus Christ amen



Elder Brimhall

February 27, 2012

today was a lot of fun, but really busy. i woke up and started studying right away and then we went and ran 6 miles i was so surprised that i was able to run that because i have never been much of a long distance guy, and i am not in that great of shape right now, but it was fun, and i did it. you feel really good after it, not so much during jk. then we went and played volleyball as a zone and went and cooked hamburgers. we have two missionaries that are from Mexico, and one of them cooks really good, so he made this one salsa that was really good, i will have to learn how he did it. this week was good, but a lot of people we found last week didn't want us to come back. there is a lot of confusion here in Chile about Joseph smith and him being our god, and weird things like that, its really sad that people care so much what others say. the world has such a different look on things. its so sad to see people turn away from the gospel when they really don't understand what they are turning away, and wont listen to understand. if there is one thing that i have learned on my mission its that the church is true, the only true church on the face of the earth, the gospel is the only thing on the world that brings us eternal happiness, in this life and in the next. i was reading in mosiah about limhi and alma. 2 groups totally different one was wicked, and for that was brought into captivity and had heavy burdens placed upon their backs. alma´s people were righteous and had done nothing to deserve being in captivity, but as it says the Lord tests our patience and our faith. the difference in the two groups was that the Lord listened immediately to the prayers of the people of alma but was slow to hear the cries of the people of limhi. in this life no matter how hard you try to be obedient, or to keep all the commandments you are going to have trials, and challenges, that is why we are here to grow and progress and without them we cant. the difference is that if we are obedient we are entitled to the help of the Lord in facing our trials. trials can do two things bring us closer to God or push us further away. really there is only one way to successful overcome or trials and that is coming closer to God. i love you all, and really do know that God loves all His children.


Elder Brimhall

February 20, 2012

this week was really awesome. we did a fast as a zone for miracles and it worked really well. we saw a lot of miracles pass, new people, people starting to progress a little faster, it was awesome. today was good we went and played soccer against another zone. i am still not the best i can get by because i am big, but i still am not the best at controlling the ball. our ward is doing great, our bishop is awesome and helps us out a lot. we have a lot of really solid members that leave with us and help us out a ton. this week in my studies something that i really liked is in Mosiah where Zeniff is talking about his people. he mentions that they prayed diligently for the Lords help and he answered their prayers and they were able to fight with the strenght of the Lord. i think that is something really important. in this life the Lord is always willing to help us no matter what we are doing. but we have to remember Him and plead with Him. it is interesting because a capter after it talks about when Noah is king and it is the opposite the people are prideful and boast in their own strength, and they are left to their own strenght and are put in bondage. so that is the fight in this life always remember the Lord and be grateful for all the many blessings that he has given us in our lives and gives us daily. i really do know that the Lord loves us and wants to help us, and is always willing to do so if we but turn to him, and put our trust and confidence in Him. love you all hope all is well

Elder Brimhall

February 13, 2012

everything is great, not a ton to report. this week was cambios but i am staying in my sector with the same companion in the same sector so nothing new to report there. it was nice to have the assistant as your friend because you find out the cambios early haha jk. we are still teaching some really good people, they still need to progress a little faster, but they are doing well. they came out with a rule that you cant really include personal informaion about the people you are teaching so i havent really been doing that. today we were in this store looking for ties, and one of the people we were with saw that some of them were on sale for 80% off, so i loaded up today and got 10 new ties, which was nice. today we didnt really do anything exciting we cleaned the house a lot because it was a little messy, sadly that is still one of my weaknesses, being a little messy but i have gotten a little better. it was werid because a lot of my friends in the mission have left and we are now some of the oldest people in the mission. it is a little strange. the time goes by so fast. 2 years really isnt a lot of time, i wish it could be longer, but i really enjoy the mission and am very happy where i am, and wouldnt want to be anywhere else. i dont think there is anything more fulfilling or rewarding than being a missionary, and helping souls be saved and return to live with God again. this really is the best two years of your life, and not only that but the best two years FOR your life. you really learn a lot grow a lot, and become more like Christ which is the whole purpose of this life. i love being a missionary. so i hope everyone is well, love you lots.


Elder Brimhall

February 6, 2012

hey, so everything is good. today i am a little tired we got permission to go to a volcano and climb a little bit. it was really cool, but we didnt bring enough water so we were all dying. it was a lot of fun, we had to wake up at 5 to get the bus so we had time to do everything. it was really pretty and reminded me a lot of the ranch. the volcano is called Antuco, which is close to Los Angeles. we have been working a lot with the members lately which has been good. there is this gringo in our ward from the us who has been here for a couple of weeks, so he took us to this nice restaurant that serves Brazilian food which was really good,( he served there on his mission). so that was pretty cool, we got to eat a lot of meat. the ward here is awesome, there are so many great families. we still have a lot of really good people we are teaching, that are doing great. it is a pretty good mix of families, young couples, from 25 to 20 and youth. really members are the key, i wish i would have left a lot more with the elders before my mission it makes such a huge difference. there are still a ton of funny contact stories, every day is really awesome. so this week we were contacting this house and there was this dog that was so huge he looked like a bear. so we go to the house and yell and wait, the gate was open. the dog seemed pretty nice and was just waiting there so i didnt really think to much of it. but then he started running toward us, so i backed up and he ran faster. so i took off my backpack and put it in front of him but it was still crazy so he stopped and went back but my heart was racing so fast it was so scary. then there was just a lot of funny people who we talked to that were really funny. one old guy was like 8 second Tom on 50 first dates who forgets everything and keeps saying the same thing. i guess he played basketball for the chilean national team and got a lot of money and bought a field and had this metal to show it. but it was funny because he just kept saying the same thing over and over. it was really funny. there are just so many funny things every day. but everything is doing awesome. the mission is great.

thanks for everything

Elder Brimhall

January 31, 2012

hey sorry i am writing a day late. yesterday we had a meeting that lasted all day we got back at 10 45 just in time to get ready for bed and go to sleep, because we had to travel 2 hours to get back home. it was really good, though i learned a lot. President Martinez talked about revelation and how we receive it. its interesting to think that in DC 76 15 20, DC 138 13 and 1 Nefi 11 they are all amazing revelations that prophets had, one by Joseph F Smith about the spirit world by Joseph Smith about the 3 kindoms of glory and one by Nefi about the vision of his father, and they all start the same way. they were all pondering and meditating the scriptures. that really is the key to our lives receiving communication in our lives from our loving Heavenly Father to make sure that we are doing all we can and if our life is in order. There is a quote by Joseph Smith that says that salvation is impossible without revelation. that is so true. without it we can not know the will of God for us indivually, obviously we have prophets to lead and guide us but as Elder Oaks talked about i think 2 conferences ago about the two different lines of revelation personal and through church leaders, and they both are so important and we need both. so i thought that was really cool and i learned a lot about revelation, and really if we are not reaching what we want in life to go to the Lord humbly in prayer and try to figure out why things arent happening and what we need to do better. so that was really good. this week was really good a lot of people are progressing and doing really well. the only bad think is we had so many members that were going to leave with us this week and then they all bailed throughout the week, but this week we are going to try to do better with that. this week i was reading Jacob 5 and its so interesting, there is no way that Joseph Smith could have written that chapter. in the end it talks about the last time that the Lord works in his vineyard, it says that his workers are few but they were obedient to all his commandments and worked diligently, with all their strength and that the Lord worked with them. i know that is true, i know that the Lord is working every day to prepare more people to accept the truth, BUT we are the main source that prepares the people. as it says in 2 Nefi 32 3 angles talk through the power of the Holy Ghost, so we can act as angles when we talk through the power of the Holy Ghost and help Heavenly Father prepare more people to receive the truth. when someone rejects the gospel it is only because they dont understand it. if they really understood all the blessings they would leave everything behind and really do whatever it takes to receive these blessings. that is our job to help them understand, and we do that by speaking the words of the Holy Ghost and letting him testify of what we have said. well sadly today i dont have a lot of time but love you all thanks for everything




Elder Brimhall

January 23, 2012

This week went by really fast. next monday we have a counsel meeting so i will get to go back to Lota i am so excited, to get to go back and see everyone. this week we tried to work a lot more with the ward and try to bring members with us a lot more on visits to investigatores and it worked out a lot better. members really are the key to missionary work. our ward here is really good it is by far and away the best one i have seen in Chile. We just got a change in our bishop but he is really animated and wants to work. so our ward is doing great. we had a lot of funny contacts this week, just of funny people. one guy was walking down the street in his suit and looked like a cool guy. so we stopped him and talked to him, so we asked him if we could come to his house another day and he was like there´s someone that lives in my house, and so me and my companion were like ok.... and then he was like, and his name is Jesus. and we were both like ok...... and then he just ran off it was so werid but really funny. i guess it doesnt sound that funny writting it out but it really was funny. its so funny as well because people give you the funniest excuses sometimes why they cant talk to you, like they were giving their baby a bath and that he is still there so they have to go and cant talk to us because their baby is just sitting in the bath a lone. it is kind of funny sometimes because people will give you some lame excuses sometimes. but the chilean peope are really nice and really are awesome they just have really bad excuses. so everyday you hear really funny excuses, why you cant come in. the mission really is amazing even the days that are a little hard, where you dont find people or your lessons fall you always learn so much, and you know that your doing what you should be doing. the real struggle is to change your will so that you want to do it.so that God´s will becomes your will that is how you find true happiness. Like Elder Corbridge said its really not that hard to believe or have faith with all the evidence there is that Jesus is the Christ or that Joseph Smith was a prophet, the real test in this life is to want the best things, and to help others want those things by educating their decisions, and helping them understand the importance of their decisions. love you all thanks for everythingç




Elder Brimhall

January 16, 2012

hey everyone, everything is going really well. we are still working hard found some really cool people this week. two of them talk english so i was trying to teach them in english and is was so werid, it was a little hard to teach in english, because you are so used to spanish as far as teaching. but it was good. in our elders quorum in our ward we are studying george albert smith and it is so good. i really do like it alot. i never really knew george albert smith before, and sadly only knew of him because of his lazy eye, but he is so awesome and talks a ton about missionary work. he talked a lot about how through love and kindness we really can touch the hearts of others and help them accept the truth. the thing that i love about the gospel that it makes so much sense really. we did a a lot of contacts and its so werid that so many people have different ideas. there is so much confusion the world really does need the gospel now more than ever. without it the world really doesnt make sense. there are so many people that need the hope that we have. i think a lot of times we forget about the importance of the gospel, and the priceless knowledge that we have. Elder Corbridge came this week it was really good, i guess it was his last conference here because chile and argentina are going to be put together as the same area. but anyway he talked about preaching and teaching the most important thing. he talked about how really if people understand the gospel they will accept it and do whatever sacrifice is necessary for it. if they dont accept it it is only because they dont understand. then he talked about what is the most important thing..... Its the Atonement. and how it applies to our life. pretty much everyone knows that Christ died for us but a lot of them dont understand the importance of it, or how it applies to them, or how they can take advantage of it. really that is what the restoration is about. that through a living prophet our loving Heavenly Father has restored his authority and power so we can be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost so we can experience all the blessings that come from the Atonement and be able to return to the presence of our Heavenly Father. Elder Corbridge is awesome and he gave an awesome talk. so all is well, i am learning lots and everything is awesome


love you all


Elder Brimhall

January 9, 2012

So all is well. Today we played soccer and went shopping for a nice rain jacket. in the week it was really good, we did a lot of contacts we are trying really hard to find families so every family we see in the street we contact. it has gone well. there was a good quote i heard on Sunday in the elders quorum. we were learning about the teachings of George Albert Smith. there was this one story where there were a bunch of people working outside his house and they were using really bad language, so one of the neighbors got after them and starting getting mad and told them that the prophet lived there but they just kept using the foul language. then President Smith made them lemonade and went and brought it out to them and let them rest under his trees. he talked about the best weapon we have to soften the hearts of the hard hearted is kindness. it is so true. sometimes after contacting a little while and hearing so many excuses you start to lose your patience a little bit, but really the best way to soften their heart is through kindness, patience, and love. Here in Chile i dont know how but every one knows about the polygamy thing, apparently discovery channel did this show the Mormon Family or something like that and everyone knows about it now, so that has been kind of hard this last couple weeks. but that is the thing with our testimonies. a lot of times we want to know everything right now, we want to have all the answers right now, but the problem is unless you have a foundation your testimony is going to fall. it just really made me think of the basics. how important they really are. God has given us a clear way to know if Joseph Smith was a prophet through the Book of Mormon, but instead of using it to try and find out if it is true, people prefer to read a lot of negative anti Mormon garbage. so that is a little frusturating sometimes. thats really the biggest challenge we are having right now, but everything is going really well. it is kind of weird today it is raining, which is crazy because during the week it was burning hot, it is a little like the monsoons. so ya all is well, love you lots,




Elder Brimhall

January 2, 2012

this week went really well. new years is bigger here than christmas so it was fun we ate dinner with a couple that is going to married in February and get baptized so that was fun. on friday we had consejo, for all the zone leaders which was a little different this one because we just went to a volcano in the south of the mission and ate a bbq and played sports it was a little weird but fun. this week i have eaten more meat than i ever have in my whole life (well thats probably a lie, but we have eaten a lot). i went pretty much a whole year with eating no steak and then in one week i have eaten it almost everyday. today we went to a waterfall in Mulchen with the whole zone for p day which was a lot of fun. it was really good to talk to you all this week i hope that you all are well and had a good new years and christmas. it has been a little hard to bring people to church these last two weeks, even with the members so in that sense it is good that the holidays are over. it is so weird that it is christmas because it is so hot here. i think Los Angeles is one of the hottest places to be in the summer time. but being from Arizona its not as bad. all is well here. i feel really bloated just from eating so much meat, but this week i think we are going to start running. we have some good people we are teaching and everything is going really well in our sector. my new companion is cool we were in the same district in the mtc so we know each other pretty well, his name is Elder Olsen he is from Payson, Utah. so i think that is about it it was a fun week, we worked hard, so its time to start the new year. love you lots


Elder Brimhall