Dearest family and friends,

I have been somewhat silent here in the last month or so as far as sending a letter to everyone in general goes.

So in the case that we are unable to return later today and write more, I wanted to give a brief update.

Today we moved houses. With a new policy that each companionship is to live in their own area, we moved up into the neighborhoods where we work. And so it as been crazy this morning working out the details. I have learned a whole lot in dealing with people and figuring out rent contracts and searching for someone with property to sign as a witness and backup. Not sure the technical term for that in English.

Anyways, so after almost 9 months in our little house we are now in a small, cozy, apartment farther up in the neighborhoods. Still have not moved areas and will be seeing the same people, but this little change will be nice. And hopefully we can save a little money in buses and walk more.

About 3 weeks ago I received my new leadership position. I am now serving with my companion, Elder V, as a Zone leader. It as been a little crazy these weeks as we have both adjusted to the new responsibilities (and the many phone calls). All is well and we are learning a lot from each other. Elder V has a good amount of time in the mission and will be leaving to go home in August. So we have a lot to accomplish in this time we have together.

Personally I am doing very well. The last few weeks we have been running each morning. There is a small playground that I was running around each morning. It is tiny and takes about 45-55 seconds to make the loop, but I was glad to be running again. I will not be able to run in the area we are moving to now, so looks like I´ll be going back to the trusty pushups and situps.

We have a lot of things to get done, particularly today with the move. But I love you all and hope you are doing well.

Elder Brighton 

These are some questions mom asked that I thought all might enjoy.

 

Funny you should ask about the sleeping this week. I have been sleeping well. Close to 8 hours each night. From the second my head hits the pillow until the alarm goes off. But this weekend an Elder had to head back to the USA (Dallas TX to be specific) to deal with some visa issues, so we have his companion here with us. So last night I slept on the floor, so not so well. But he should be getting back in the next couple days.

 

We have been doing well on the money. The trick is not buying things we do not need and being smart about how we spend the money. For example, if we buy what we need as we go day to day from the Little stores, good chance the money does not last. But buying at the beginning of the week for the whole week helps. Doing well, have not really lost any weight.

 

After several ups and downs and many learning experiences it seems we found a place to live this morning. It is a good place. One block from the highway. Here, the closer to the highway we are, the safer. The farther back into the neighborhood you get, the sketchier and darker it gets. It really is a nice house. Cozy.

 

We sing hymns to start each companion study and also to start most lessons. Other than that, I have been trying to sing more recently after hearing in the conference that `a singing child is a happy child`

I think two things I could have done better about are

1. Take note of the blessings I received for living the góspel. Specific blessings that came from specific obedience. That would involve writing down experiences in a journal that I could then refer to later to remember. But when we teach a principle or a commandment the very best part is when I am able to share my own personal testimony that the blessings are real and that I know if they will live the way God wants them to, they too can be blessed.

 

2. Practice teaching in every opportunity you get. In family home evenings, Sunday school classes, seminary, casual conversations. Practice putting myself in the shoes of others and imagine how they would be feeling, hearing something new and for the first time. What can I say to help them understand?

 

Just a thought.

 

Love you all,

Elder Brighton

Dearest family and friends,

I hope that you all had a great week and were able to take the time to think and remember the miracle of the Resurrection. The singular act that gives hope to humankind. To know with a certainty that we will live again, death is not the end. A hope that the happenings of this life have meaning. The assurity that all who have born, who have lived on this earth, will indeed live once more. 

The soul shall be restored to the body, and the body to the soul; yea, and every limb and joint shall be restored to its body; yea, even a hair of the head shall not be lost; but all things shall be restored to their proper and perfect frame.

Alma 40:23

And this life that we wait and hope for will last the eternity. No more sickness, no more physical pain. A perfect body. And this for all men regardless.

I also wanted to share a thought or two from the past couple weeks. If everything goes well I am going to attach a photo of a couple of young men that I have gotten to know here. The one to the far right is named Gabriel. I want to share something that I learned from him.

You may have heard of a sort of real life game that some people play on ebay (or perhaps now more often craigslist or similar sites). The general principle is to start with a certain object and 'trade up' until you reach another. For example, start with a phone and end up with a car. While it seems a little unusual and perhaps impossible, it is doable. 

In the photo, behind the young men is a large sound setup. It is made up of several speakers, sound boxes, a mixer, and a bunch of other things that I honestly do not know what they are called. All of this equipment was aquired by trades. Here in this part of Mexico tiangis are very common and popular. It is a street market that lasts one day (from the morning until it gets hot). In the larger ones you can find all kinds of things, just about anything you could imagine. It is the best place to buy fruits and vegetables and honestly most of the things you could need. It is also the best place to do any kind of trading.

Gabriel told us about his experience slowly aquiring all of the equipment, piece by piece. He started out with an old junky car stereo and a broken TV. And so the adventure began. He would go to the tiangis and go in search of people willing to make trades. He would change the stereo for a phone, and later the phone for something different. Occasionally the trades would get more interesting, throwing in several articles or even cash. But the trick, and the way it works, is always, always knowing exactly what each thing is worth. For Gabriel, it did not matter if the thing he got had any additional worth to him, what mattered is what it valued in cash or in comparison to the rest. Each trade he made, he worked his way up in value. One trade, for example, he gave a phone with television that had the screen half broken to an older man who spent much of his time waiting around for clients. In return he received several speakers and cash. To the man, the phone valued more because of its use, but in the transaction Gabriel said he gained nearly 100 dollars in value.

And so that is the process, making many trades and being very sharp so as to always progress in value. What started as a couple of broken and junky electronics, turned into a sound system that is easily worth $1,500 (and that is American dollars :) ). Not only that, but he now takes his system and rents it out at parties and earns money independently.

Gabriel turned 16 a couple months ago. He has learned, and has taught me, a crucial life principal. True value.

In the interactions of our daily lives we likewise make many trades and bargains. Occasionally we might trade our personal integrity for a better grade, for praise from a supervisor, or to please a friend or family members. Thinking in the moment (or perhaps in reality not thinking at all) that those small things are worth more that our personal integrity. But what is it we are trading? What is the true value of integrity?

In the system of the tiangis, when the trade is made, there is no going back. At the end of the day everything disappears, the tents go down, the vendors return to where they came from, and you can be almost sure that you will not find things the same again. No tradebacks.

And so it is with our integrity. When then trade is made, when we lose the confidence of our friends and family, the process to regain it is long and difficult. 

And so it is so important that before entering the market, before the moment arrives, we take the time to consider exactly what is the value of the things we posses. Personal Integrity, friendships, obedience, our virtue (surely the list goes on). What are we willing to trade? What is the true value of that which we are receiving?

Thought I would share that thought with you. I hope you are all doing great. The weather is really starting to heat up and it is time to make sure we are drinking plenty of liquids. Hope you all have a great week. Still love hearing from you any chance you get to write me.

With love,

Elder Brighton

Dearest Family and Friends,

 

Due to some fortunate changes, I will now have a little more time to write each week. So I will do my utmost to take advantage of it and share more of what is going on for me. Hope I do not bore you with more details. Sorry I have not written much in the last couple of weeks. We have been very busy.

 

First, I have had a couple of questions from family members and friends and I thought I might share the answers with all.

 

Do you wear a watch? If so, how's that watch tan line coming along? 

 

I do indeed wear a watch, and the tan line is quite impressive. I do not know if it is quite at the level of when I spent my summer as a lifeguard, but it is getting there. And we are entering into Spring now, so that may well mean more sun (not actually sure how it will be here seeing as how I have never been here in the spring before). 

Is it harder for you to write in English rather than Spanish?

 

I do not know if I can say it is harder to write in English, but occasionally I do note that my grammer may slide towards Spanish construction. Some words and phrases are definitely slipping away. (for example, could someone help me out with madre soltera, the phrase in English for a mom that lives alone with her children).

Are you thinking in Spanish mostly now instead of English?

 

To be honest, I do not think in a language. I do not think anyone really does. I think in thoughts and images and emotions. But when I am constructing sentences and phrases, it is in Spanish and not in English. On a number of occasions I have had dreams where I am back among family and friends, but as I start to talk to them, I can only speak Spanish and no one understands me. And then when they start talking, I am not able to understand their 'English'. So as far as the language goes, I feel that I can say now that I truly speak Spanish. I look forward very much to the many opportunities being back in Texas to communicate with so many people that I could not before.

Have you been singing much lately? Have you ever tried singing to or with an investigator? Kind of weird maybe but just curious because often songs can bring the spirit better than other things.

 

Though I sing much less than I used to, I still try to every chance I get. We begin each companionship study with a hymn, and very often we begin lessons with everyone we teach with a hymn as well. Funny that you ask this question this week, because this week, for the first time, I shared a song with a family we were teaching. After telling us about some particularly horrible things they had been through, we felt very helpless and unsure.

 

(As I was writing this part, just outside of the cyber that we were using three gunshots were fired. Everyone got riled up and they quickly pulled down the metal curtain. I do not think anything really happened, the cars involved took off quick. First time I have been that close to a shooting. We have been very safe and blessed in all moments, but please do continue to pray for us and the good people here.)

 

Okay, the songs. And so after hearing this all, instead of trying to do anything else, I felt the desire to share a couple of songs. After singing them in English, I told them what they said. One is '''O My Soul Hungered' and the other ''Consider the Lillies''. It felt great to sing, and indeed, it seemed to have a greater impact than words alone may have offered.

How's the weather? scenery? your apartment?

 

The weather is great. It never really got cold. Some evenings I may have been a little more comfortable with a sweater, but usually I was fine with my short sleeve white shirt and pants. We are entering spring this week, which seems to mean that there will be more rain. It has been very sunny lately and starting to heat up. Most days it gets up to about 35 degrees C. Not sure what that is exactly in F. The scenery is great. Although much of the area I work in is dirt roads and simple brick houses, much of it is up in little hills. From the tops we can see all of Guadalajara. It is a city of almost 6 million people, so it is quite a site. We are also on the edge, so in the other direction there are green hills and valleys. The apartment is good. Tabletop gas stove serves to do any heating we want to do. I continue eating my bowl of oatmeal each morning. Little by little I have been buying things to make the house a little more homely. A couple weeks ago I bought a scale to see the damage I had done. It was not to bad and I am happy to say that after setting a goal for this week I am now there at 74 kilos. I do very much look forward to the chance to run again.

 

We have started going each morning to a little park about 3 minutes away. My companion stretches, does pushups and abs and I run each morning for 20 minutes. I have really enjoyed it. How much I have missed running! I do look forward to the time that I can go for a nice long, hard run.

 

Is the place you email some distance from your apartment?

 

We have a little cyber right around the corner, about 3 minutes walking. That is the way we use computers here, little busineses that charge about 10 cents every 8 minutes. Works well.

How is your hot water situation?

I am very pleased to say that we have hot water! Our boiler, which we light each morning, did not work for the first 6 months here (which naturally was almost all of the winter). But I later found out that the father of one of the families that we have really come to love works on boilers as part of his job. So he came over one night and quickly fixed it up. So we now enjoy warm showers each day.

 

Let me take a moment to comment more on what we have been up to down here.

 

Jose Carmen, the man that received a blessing and walked again has been doing great. A good brother from the ward gave him a suit to wear, and he comes to church each Sunday, making the sacrifice to walk quite a distance. He has been sharing with his neighbors and each time we pass he has a new family for us to visit. Through him we have started teaching a family of about 25 people, 3 generations. Having recently lost a son/brother to an accident, they are really seeking for answers right now. It has been a blessing to share this message of peace and assurance with them.

 

This last week I completed 7 months here in this area. That is quite a while, and I have really come to love all of the people here. The members have come to trust and love us as well. We get phone calls several times a week now asking if we can come and help with this or that, give a blessing, or simply an invitation to eat. On several occasions I have felt that it is all worth the effort when someone introduces me as the 'hard working', 'servicial', 'spiritual', or 'dedicated' missionary. We have seen incredible changes. This area, once commonly known as the tough, or less desirable area has become one of the most successful in the mission. We still have much work to do and nothing comes easy, but putting out trust in the source that does not fail, we will contine to take His yoke upon us, because with Him, truly the burden is light.

 

To finish this lengthy letter this week thought I might mention one other thing. Before my time here I rarely dreamed, or at the least I hardly ever remembered dreaming. But almost every night I have very vivid and lingering dreams. Sometimes enjoyable, and sometimes exhausting it is always nice to pass a few hours each night in the presence of all my good friends.

 

Thinking of and praying for you,

Elder Brighton

Dearest family and friends,

It has been another great week. We had transfers again, but I will be staying here for another 6 weeks to finish training Elder Rios. I have really fallen in love with this ward and area.

This week, among many other things, we added another skill to the toolbox. Arriving at an appointment one evening, we found that the small grass area was on fire and burning behind the neighbor´s house. Seeing as how it was making its way dangerously towards the house, we grabbed some buckets and a hose and helped them put it out, running up and first wetting the grass in between and later slowly pushing the fire back. It was  a great and very unexpected experience, but the family was very grateful. They had been losing the battle, but with a little help combating from the other side as well, in not too long we had it all under control.

Time is super short, but we are really getting after it. 

Love,

Elder Brighton

Dearest Family and Friends,

 

I wanted to share another incredible experience we had here in the last week.

 

There is a wonderful family we have been working with since I arrived here in Mexico. It consists of a mother and her three sons. Although she has a firm desire to attend church and strengthen her personal relationship with God, she has been unable to go for over three years because of work. For all of this time she has regularly asked for a change of schedule without any success. A little over a week ago my companion and I stopped by to visit her. She had undergone jaw surgery and had been out of work now for nearly a month. As we visited with her she expressed her desire to be more with her family and be able to take her sons to church. We felt inspired to begin a fast with her that afternoon with the purpose that she would be able to receive a change of schedule.

 

Fasting is the voluntary abstinance of food and drink usually for a period of 24 hours. It is accompanied with prayer and the purpose is to understand the will of God and bring us closer to Him. It is the expression of the sincere desire to receive His blessings. One does not fast to receive or call attention, but rather to humble oneself and it is something very personal and private. Great blessings can be received from sincere and humble fasting and prayer.

 

We began the fast Wednesday in the afternoon and ended it Thursday afternoon. The good sister entered into work Friday early in the morning. As she later related to us, entering Friday her supervisor called her in. He told her the position she had been working was no longer available, but that they still had a spot for her. They asked what would work best for her. She told them that the beginning of the week would be much better, and without a second thought or question, they gave it to her. She said she had been preparing herself with a long and heartfelt explanation for all of the reasons why she needed the change, but that when they gave it to her so easily and quickly, she almost could not believe it.

 

When we finally did find her again home and were able to find out the news, she called us in with a great smile and after having us sit down said, ¨Elders, the fast worked!¨

 

How grateful we are to not be alone in this work. Problems that we have no control and no power over have again been resolved by the love, mercy, and power of our Heavenly Father. He knows us. He knows me. He knows the good sister who so desperately needed and saught his help. Occasionally, He only waits until we develop the necessary faith to ask Him. To trust in Him. What a miracle!

 

As a quick update on the man who regained his strength and health, he is doing great. He lives just around the corner from the sister mentioned above, an area called the Mesa. Last week he went alone and was able to take out Popular Insurance. All alone. What progress, physically, mentally, emotionally. In so many aspects. He is preparing and will enter into the covenant of baptism this coming weekend. He has a great desire to change his life, to put his trust in God. It is easy to see the difference He has already made in his life.

 

I am doing quite well. It is so much easier to talk about others. As soon as I arrived at this part, I blanked and have sat here now several minutes with nothing to say. Sometimes I feel that I forget myself, who I am or was. And then, all of a sudden I will remember. It is so strange how truly in losing yourself in helping others, you truly do find yourself, who you really are. So far, thus it has been with me.

 

I love you all and hope you are well. I am very grateful for the time I have here to work. I fear it is passing all to fast. Continue to pray for my safety, please. I will continue to pray for all of you.

 

Elder Brighton

No letter from Elder Brighton this week. Just a quick note mentioning that Zone Conference would be  Tuesday.