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