Week 37 - The Little Things & Intestinal Infections

April 25, 2016

Familia!!!!

Oh I just love you all so much!!! Sounds like you all had a wonderful week!!! I love all your little missionary moments. We watched a mormon message the other day about a young man who before his mission had already brought 16 people into the church because he just wanted to help them have a better life! and he knew where to find it, in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He wasn't afraid to open his mouth. I got to thinking, how cool it would be if each person just wasn't afraid to open their mouth!? How many people would be brought into the church? And just brought into happiness? 

We had changes last week.....and I am still in PUCALLPA!!! and still in the same ward VISTA ALEGRE! I'm going to pass the halfway mark in my mission all in this ward. It is really like my home ward now and I absolutely love working with all the members and converts. I got to know some of them a little bit better this week because I got sick with an intestinal infection, really just like a flu. But it meant I couldn't work all of Saturday and Sunday and I had to stay in the houses of some members so my companion could still go work with other members. One night I mentioned that I liked her wardrobe and the hermana I was staying with proceeded to open up her entire wardrobe and show me every little thing that was in it! I love learning about the lives of the people here. She is so sweet! When I woke up later that night dripping from sweat, it was because she had so sweetly put a blanket on me :) And its incredible to see how missionary work can just happen from experiences like that. We ended up with 3 new people to teach from me staying at members houses sick :) If there is a will there is a way!!!

We had zone conference this week again and one of the things I loved that we talked about was the little things we do in life. There are so many thing we do from making the bed in the morning to following a rule to write in our journal at night as missionaries. Our mission handbook is the smallest of all of the books we have, but it is the one that can help keep us happy. Obedience is directly linked to happiness and success, maybe not in the way we are thinking, but Gods ways are not our ways, and I'm convinced by now Gods ways are better. We don't need big things to change the world, we need lots of little things Alma 37:6-7

I know that this is true! I know that if we focus on the little things that God will lead us to much greater things!

Keep smiling brightly all of you! Never forget how much I love you!
Love

Hermana Briggs

Sorry there aren't pics..I didnt realize my camera was dead!

Week 36 - Bendiciones! (Blessings)

April 18, 2016

Loca familia!

It's so great to hear you're all doing so great!

This week I wanted to do a list of things I am grateful for in the mission:

1. For my pensionista, Hermana B*, who is always worried I'm not fattening up enough and makes sure I have a hat to work in while in the sun. She tells me when my shirt is dirty and I need to change it and when my skirt is out of place. She takes us in her motokar to the stake center so we don't have to pay a taxi and she gives the best hugs on the planet! Not to mention that she is always laughing :)

2. For D* our most recent convert, who has a disease that is slowly killing him. He keeps smiling even though now he can't walk. He can't kneel to say his prayers now, but really prays without ceasing. His testimony is so firm and his desire to help others strengthens me.

D*, our newest member!

3. For the the second counselor in our stake presidency who is a lawyer and went with us to our visit with M y R to help them finish their divorce stuff. He is such a great example of moving forward and focusing on the important things...especially his family. It is evident in who he is. 

4. For the spirit. I have felt the difference this week as I have tried to be the instrument and not the person using the instrument. I learn things from things that I say, because it isn't me really saying them. The spirit is real. And it is so powerful.

5. For referals! We have been trying to ask everyone for referrals and we have so many we can't contact them all, but we have found some golden families from referrals of referrals and so on. These families are so prepared and they recognize that the Lord is trying to help them through us. 

6. For my amazing mother who had her birthday this last week! She is always so willing to help me and those around her with whatever they need  before her own needs. I don't know if I'll ever be able to live up to her example, but I love her so much!

7. And lastly, I'm grateful for my Savior who never gives up on me even when I feel like giving up on myself. It is never too late. There is NOTHING that He already hasn't covered. I know without Him I am nothing and am trying to have more faith in his plan for me and for his children on this earth. Alma 7:11-12

Keep smiling brightly y'all and thanks for your questions! I love hearing about everything!

Love

Hermana Briggs

Sis. Alberto with a chirimoya fruit. Some characterize the fruit flavor as a blend of banana, pineapple, papaya, peach, and strawberry. Mark Twain believed it was "the most delicious fruit know to man"! We call it the "heavenly delicious fruit"!

Answers to questions:

On p-days we play soccer or watch movies. All the sight seeing places here you have to use a boat to get to so until I leave Pucallpa, I don't really get to see a whole lot. 

They do have what they call parque natural which is like the zoo with animals in cages from different parts of Peru and the scenery is beautiful! The majority all natural!

I absolutely love my companion Hermana Alberto. She is a nurse and literally has saved me from getting more sick. She is so happy all the time and so willing to do what she needs to for the Lord. She's from Cerro de Pasco, Peru, but it's super duper cold there - like it's cold all the time!

I really have no idea how many people live here...but a lot!

My favorite thing to eat here is probably tallarin verde con bisteak....and my pensionista makes mashed potatoes!!! I thought it was a joke but, oh man, they are so good!

Going to try this: https://cookpad.com/us/recipes/368169-tallarines-verdes-con-bistec-green-spaghetti-with-steak

Week 35 - I Want to Stay Forever!

April 11, 2016

Familia!!!!

The investigators in our area that are going to be baptized
 but have to finish some paperwork...they are just incredible!

I think I finally understood this week why missionaries say they never want to come home! Cause the mission really is the best! You get to focus 100% on the work of the Lord and don't have to worry about anything else. I'm finally realizing how great that is....and now I'm saying, too, I just want to stay here forever :) but don't worry I'll come back eventually.

SO, this week my sweet companion got sick..like super sick and was stuck in bed for 2 days! She's still recovering from it...but slowly getting better. But because of it I worked a lot with the members in our ward so we could still visit the people in our area. I think it was the first time i realized i wasnt scared to do it on my own...i could teach the people easily and realized i know spanish and could be so guided by the spirit. I learned a lot from having to work a little bit by myself this week...but it wasnt by myself because i had the Lord helping us every step of the way. 

They had elections here in Peru yesterday, so church was canceled in all of Peru so people would vote...ya, I realized how much I love going to church! But, we got to teach D* during that time...our new convert. He is dying from a disease that there is medicine for but the medicine won't come until the end of the month...and at the rate he is declining he might not be here in 18 days. We are praying and fasting with all our might. I know the strength that comes through mighty fasting and prayer, as Alma says. Because it's like knocking on the doors of heaven.  Of course, God has a plan and we always want his will to be done. Keep him in your prayers. 

Also, I got to work with Sister Gillingham while my comp was sick because hers was, too. We were in the CCM together and it is so cool to see how much she has progressed and really made the Lord the center of her life. 

Sis. Alberto and her "suero" to
 "keep her from dying" :)

Enos 1:4 hit me hard this week...like the scripture says "penetro mi corazon." Sorry I don't remember what it says in English. But, I was thinking about what things we are letting hit our heart to change us. We have to reflect on what we have learned. Don't forget to keep reflecting on conference! 

I love you all so much! Keep smiling brightly!

Hermana Briggs

Week 34 - General Conference, April Fools, & God Answers Prayers!

Click HERE to watch General Conference April 2016.

April 4, 2016

Oh Bonita Familia!

Wow, what a great week :) Glad you are all happy and I just about fell over when I saw the picture of Gable at prom!!!! LIKE WHAT????!? But I was consoled when I saw him with Miriam :) Be sure to take care of each other!

This week was a week with lots and lots of meetings...but I was so edified and uplifted I wouldn't have changed it....just that we had limited time to teach people which was a bummer. 

But we found a new family through a member this week and it has already been so cool to see their progress. The husband didn't want to talk with us the first day.  The second time we caught him and more or less made him listen to us, and yesterday he finally said the closing prayer for us!!! Really, the spirit is real!! And it changes people whether they know they're being changed or not :)

I hope Gable did lots of great April fools jokes, cause I did! We pulled a joke on my district leader that we had lost the keys to our apartment which is impossible to break into if you don't have the keys. We got him all flustered up into calling the zone leaders and then we left him with saying "Happy April Fools Day!" And then it was a little i

ronic when there was a talk given by an apostle about loosing the car keys. It changed my vision a little on that experience. 

Another crazy experience happened this week with keeping the sabbath day holy. We decided to walk to the stake center (1 hr away walking) because we had decided at the beginning of the change we weren't going to pay for motos on Sunday. We walked there in perfect time, but on the way home, we were running behind. I said a silent prayer to help us find a way to get home faster. We tried asking a moto if we could trade the ride for a Book of Mormon, but he said his kids ate money, not books :) So we kept walking. We reached a point where we found a motokar waiting for us and asked him if we could trade the ride for our Book of Mormon. And he accepted!!!! Really I felt like I had been hit with a bucketfull of the spirit. GOD ANSWERS PRAYERS!!! Even the little silent prayers we make. BUT, we must be doing all we possibly can to follow his commandments. That was what I loved most about conference too...learning how to pray ALWAYS!

This week I found a scripture in 1 John 4:7,18 (really the whole chapter) that talks about how love comes from God and casteth out ALL fear. If we are just trying to love those around us, God, and ourselves, we will have no need to fear and we can have a perfect trust in him. 

Keep smiling and trusting in the Lord!  I love you all so much!

Love ya!

Hermana Briggs