Week 41- Sacrifice and Testimony of the Priesthood

May 23, 2016

Familia!!!

This week I was super excited because one of the couples that has been investigating the church for years, accepted a baptismal date, went and played soccer with the other members of the church and came to church this  last Sunday!!! They are 2 little young 'ins, 18 and 21 years old, but they both know that the church is true and have such strong testimonies. We followed the spirit to help us know the words to say and we really can see the Lord's hand in our lives.

We also had a super cool lesson with our old Relief Society President's sister. The relief society pres called us and set an appt. with us a week in advance and the day of, a member of the stake presidency was there, too. It was set up so perfectly to invite the spirit into the lesson and really to be able to help the sister. She was so prepared and I just had to think how cool it would be if every member found someone like that. There would be a lot more converted in the world. 

We have a 12 year old boy getting baptized this Saturday and he is so ready and excited for it. His lessons crack me up because he always has some great question, like this week when we were teaching the 10 commandments and we talked about taking the Lords name in vain, he said, " So if i say, A"dios," (Adios means goodbye in Spanish:), is that taking the Lords name in vain?" Oh, he makes me smile! I'm so excited to help this family become forever. 

On Monday we watched "Ephraim's Rescue" as a zone and I got thinking about all the people who have sacrificed so much for me so that I can be serving God's children. To not give all I have to him would just be wasting that sacrifice. I know this church is true and I know that God loves all of His children and wants us to return to Him. I have felt my testimony of the power of the priesthood grow so much. It is real and it really is God's power to bind on earth and in heaven.

Keep smiling brightly! I was reading in Jacob 3:1 this morning about putting our confidence in God and He will comfort us and fight for our cause if we have faith and pray to Him...if we are pure in heart. 

I love you all so incredibly much! Never pass up the chance to share what has changed your life with others!

Love,

Hermana Briggs

Week 40 - Progression & Line Upon Line

May 16, 2016

Hna D* and me!

Thank you so much for your update on everything! It is amazing to see as I become more focused in on the missionary work, the more I feel like I'm not missing anything at home, o mejor dicho (or better said), that I feel like I am there with you doing all of it! I think I've finally accepted that things aren't supposed to stay the same. We are supposed to keep on progressing and we can't progress if we stay the same. 

This week was another great week of progress! I managed to get sick this week again and ended up in the clinic with my companion. It was just a sore throat with a fever, but the sicknesses are so different here and if you don't get it cured quick you can end up being sick for months. But I'm 100% better now thanks to an early catch. 

We also had a day visit from the sister leaders! It is always so cool to work with someone else and learn from their example. I worked with Hna Dambrosio who is so so dedicated in the work of the Lord and gave me so much strength to keep doing the absolute best I can every single day. 

Funny moment this week when we were teaching D, one of our recent converts who was just diagnosed with a life long sickness, but always seems to make us laugh. He came to church on Sunday for the first time in a month and a half because he can now walk a little!!! But my companion was explaining that if we only try the sweet sweet sweet we can never know the salty. Like if we only know good, we can never know what the bad is or appreciate the good. At the end he blurted out "and, ya, you would have diabetes too!" We all busted up laughing, but as I thought about it he was right from what we had explained :)

Our family that is progressing, but can't get baptized because of paper problems, has a son that is going to get baptized! We really feel that if he gets baptized he will help strengthen his family until they can follow his example. He is so excited and already is inviting and bringing his friends to church. He has the greatest questions like "if I pray can I reach eternal life?" He's great! 

The recipe I promised to send!

I hit my halfway mark this week...I seriously can't believe its here! But I was super excited to find that my pensionista had learned how to make pancakes :) I'm so excited to keep learning and progressing and really don't want it to ever end!

My scripture this week is found in 2 Nefi (Nephi) 28:30....line upon line, precept upon precept we learn. Don't get down if by tomorrow your not perfect. Trust in God and his plan for you!

I love you so much!!

Love,

Hermana Briggs

Week 39 - Faith

May 9, 2016

Familia!!!

Mangoes in Peru are huge! Some are as big as my head!

Hey just wanted to let you know once again that I love you all so much! I loved seeing all your smiling faces...your all just growing up so fast and so great! 

So this week was another great adventure in Pucallpa! We spent a lot of this week with new families that we have found recently. We've found some super cool families, one in particular who came to church yesterday! Only the husband came, but both of them are completing their compromisos (commitments) better than any family I've taught before. They are praying and reading with such faith and desires to know the truth! The only hard part is that the husband J might be traveling to Lima for work in June! So we're doing what we can.

My pensionistas daughter came home from her mission on Friday and it was really cool to get to talk to her for the few minutes we have been eating there to hear some of her mission experiences. 

I'm learning a lot right now about putting my faith in Jesus Christ and believing in Him and His will for His children. It takes faith to open your mouth, it takes faith to concentrate on every need your investigators have. It takes faith to repent and try to become better and to trust that the Atonement really covers your sins. As you come to know Jesus Christ your faith grows in Him and your ability to serve Him with all your heart increases as well. I have always loved D&C 6:33-37. It talks so much about how we need to have faith before fear. Trust in Him; doubt not; fear not. 

I challenge all of you to trust in God and in our Savior Jesus Christ a little more this week by coming to know them. Choose one thing, only one thing you want to improve this week, and do it. You will see the change.

I love this work, I love Pucallpa (even the heat) and I love you all!
Keep smiling brightly and have an amazing week!

Love,

Hermana Briggs

Week 38 - Another's Prayer & Tormentas!

May 2, 2016

Familia!

In 9 days I'll be half way done with my mission! Where does the time go??? I really don't know, but I'm grateful for every day I have! 

Decenas de viviendas y colegios se quedaron sin techo producto
de los vientos y lluvias. |Fuente: RPP | Fotógrafo: Pablo Pezo

This week was another crazy week! At the beginning of the week I thought I was going to literally die from sweating so much and then on Wednesday the biggest tormenta (storm) came out of no where! Literally! We were finishing service and saw in the distance super black clouds coming in tornado form, and we took off running, literally, but we weren't fast enough and the storm caught us! In an instant it was super cold and windy and we were stuck in it! The wind was so strong it was knocking down trees and ripping off roofs. We took cover in an investigator's house whose garage door had been blown down and got together and said a prayer kneeling on their bathroom floor because that was the safest place. I was super scared before we said the prayer but after I could only feel peace. And we were all okay. Everyone in the ward was okay and I really could see the hand of the Lord helping His sheep. 

Árboles derribados por los fuertes vientos. | Fuente: RPP | Fotógrafo: Pablo Pezo

This week we contacted a lot of references and on one occasion we got to the door and found the reference and his wife weren't there, but his brother and his wife were. They let us in and we were able to teach them a lesson about the Gospel of Jesus Christ (faith, repentance, baptism, the Holy Ghost and endure to the end). When we finished he told us that he had been praying that God would help him, and then we knocked on his door. It was so cool to feel that we had been an answer to someones prayer! After that we needed to go to the other side of our area, but we were out of transport money and the only way to get there was walking, but we were exhausted and walking there would take 1/2 hr! So, we put our faith in God and flagged down a motokar who took us for free!!!! I don't know how that happens, well, ya, I do. It's with the help of God, because we had a recent convert that we NEEDED to teach. 

I could go on and on about the miracles we as missionaries see each week, but I also am realizing that these blessings are available to everyone who wants to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and follow Him. Also, tenemos que ser atento a las bendiciones que recibimos en nuestras vidas diarias. (we must be attentive to the blessings we receive in our daily lives) ( Sorry, I couldn't remember that in English. Hermana Alberto and I say Spanglish is the celestial language :)

I hope you all have an amazing week and I want to leave you with 2 Nephi 26:24;31. Christ did everything in the benefit of others and He will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. So, if we first seek the kingdom of Heaven, we will have everything we need to bless the lives of others. I love you all so much! Keep smiling your precious smiles brightly! 

Love,

Hermana Briggs

Also...shout out to my amazing mother who has had such an incredible impact on my life. The world needs more women like you. Never give up! and remember the Lord is always on your side. I love you more than words can tell!

Dad, I hope you really enjoyed the "Saturday's Warrior" movie for me 'cause I absolutely love it!