Dearest family and friends,

As I sit and somewhat struggle and think of how to express some of the things I have been blessed to experience the thought came to do it in a less formal and choppier sort of way. Please do not read it as any sort of boasting or bragging, I share it in the most humble of attitudes hoping that in many cases you can respond likewise, yes! This is my attempt to communicate myself a little better.

Have you ever....

-waited in an hour of traffic to travel a couple hundred feet because it rained so much that the water erroded the dirt streets away and left them nearly impassable.

- stood in the back of a truck of a stranger as they drive down a small highway feeling the warm air rush through your gel-plasted hair, looking around you and seeing the small mountains encircle a beautifully green and thriving valley

-Knelt alongside a family as they gathered for the first time to pray togther and listened as a strong and well-reputed father expresses his love and concern for his children as he speaks with his God and Father. Witnessing a tender moment when the hearts of the children begin to soften towards their father and all feel a sense of purpose and newfound hope.

-Listened to a 40 year old man explain why he was sentenced to federal prison for over 15 years and then listen to that same man express how he has begun to feel healed from the inside out. How the torture he received, physically, mentally, and emotionally, is beginning to be erased from his mind. Hear him express hope for the first time since he left. Be a witness to his commitment to completely leave his alcoholic life behind, never more to turn. And looking him in the eyes, feel an immense love for him like I have never felt for anyone, a love that flows through me, from a loving Heavenly Father. Seeing the potential in the tired, worn, and tatooed body of a man wanting to start again. And listening as he expresses profoundly simple ideas. I am feeling a change. There really is hope even after all I have seen and felt.

-Been woken up each night at 4 in the morning by fireworks from some sort of weeklong celebration

 

- Gone to prayer to make a decision you thought you already knew and risen from your knees with a completely different answer

-Made all the possesions and furniture of a small house fit into the back of a largeish truck, loading and unloading everything with a handful of other guys. 

-Woken up the next day sore all over, but smiling and full of all the thanks they gave and continue give.

I have, last week.

There is another style of living that can be had. There is a happiness that can come from human interaction that need not depend on the concrete outcome of any one event. 

Keep up the happy life,

Elder Brighton

Dearest family and friends,

I realized just how much I love it when people write me with little details about what is going on in thier lives. And then I realized I never write little details. So I am repenting and writing a few things that might be fun to read about.

We spent Friday and Saturday of this last week traveling. Friday morning we left early and went to Tepic for a conference with Elder Johnson of the 70 to learn how to be better missionaries. We talked mostly about working better with the members, being diligent in our planning, and being willing to give and sacrifice everything for this time to serve. It was a very uplifting conference. Finishing up there my companion and I took a bus to Guadalajara and got there pretty late. The following morning we were able to attend the temple early in the morning, because we got the highest scores on a mission exam we took last week, and afterwards attended a training session with Elder Johnson again for the Zone leaders of the mission. It was good and we were instructed on our responsability to be an example, be obedient, and have good and pure desires. 

We arrived to the temple at 6 30 in the morning, but since there were people that had travelled from several of the nearby states of Mexico, it was full until 9 30. Great to be able to enter and feel sheltered from everything for a couple of hours. 

I have learned the power of desires. When we really want something, we find a way to make it happen. When we have things that we should do, we may do them, or if anything goes wrong we may take it as an excuse for why it could not be done. There is not doubt that wants and desires are powerful things. And so it is well worth the time to figure out what it is we really and truly desire. Do we really want and desire to work more and earn more money? Or is our desire to be able to imporve the quality of life of our family? Would that quality not improve more if we spent more time with them and less time slaving at work? And I know of a surety that time spent is so much more valuable than money given. That is just one example that has been one my mind as I work with several of the families here. 

What are my desires? What are they truly?

Fun details

One of my favorite parts of the time in this area is taking rides in the back of pickup trucks along little highway to get to church. I love being in the open air, looking around me as we pass fields, cows, tropical foilage,

We rent a two room apartment that is on top of another house. That is pretty typical for the area where we live. Someone builds there house and the second floor they rent out. We have a little patio where we do exercise in the morning. We have a homemade weight bar with the two ends having been made of cement in buckets. It is about 65 lbs and I am starting to feel stronger each day as I do various exercices. 

We are working right now with three different grown men that are overcoming addictions. Two to the alcohol and one to smoking. They are three very sincere and recently humbled men. It is incredible to think that I am taking part and seeing as God works in them and changes them. Could it be possible that two very unknowing and practically untrained boys could help free a man from a 17 year addiction.... I do not think so. But fortunently we are not alone.

My companion is from Mexico City and is a great support. We have started eating well in the mornings. I often make a big pot of oatmeal with raisens or banana, or scambled egg with jam and cheese. 

My companion has a electical raquet that he kills mosquitos and other bugs with. The area we are in has a lot of lizards and if we are walking down a path with lots of foilage on the sides good sized lizards run back and forth across the path.

Last week we had a stake conference. The Stake 'President had organized with us and to finish the conference we had a suprise musical number. As the final hymn finished, before the member passed to say the prayer we came walking in from behing singing We will Bring the World His Truth. It was a powerful close and people were talking about it for quite a while. Brought a lot of emotion to the people there and also to me as I sang.

I am learning so much how to problem solve. I feel like my capacity to identify, address, and solve problems of all types has increased and enhanced immensely. Personal, emotional, logistical, economical, you name it. But I know I have much to learn still.

And lastly, I am learning the power of love. It is a real thing. If I, as a leader, develop, feel, and express love for the people I am leading and serving, the things we can acheive together multiply. If I lead by some other principle, intellect, fear, earned respect, etc it can function to a certain degree. But it cannot be compared to the purtity and power of love. Other words for love could be, kindness, compassion, comprehension, sacrifice...

I know the message I am sharing is true. I know Jesus is the Christ and the Savior of me and of the human race. I know that He will come again, although I do not know when. And I know that He has established and restored His kingdom in the earth to prepare us for that day and moment. If I do not live to see it I know I will be raised up, along with each and every one of you, to stand before Him and give an account for how I used the time, energy, and opportunities that He lovingly gave me. Of these things I have no doubt.

With love,

Elder Brighton

September 2, 2013

Elder Brighton is short on time but he made some recordings to share with everyone. If you go to the following link, you'll need to copy and paste I'm afraid, you can download and listen to them. It is one "letter" broken into short segments for emailing purposes.

Recorded message from Elder Brighton

Heading into Guadalajara today for a mission council tomorrow. It is about 5 hours away, so no time today. But here is a photo that I hope says a thousand words.

A father that was able to reactivate, receive the priesthood, and baptize his son this weekend.

Elder Brighton

Today was a great day!

We share a porch area with our next door neighbor and we found out this week that he has a washer! And so this morning he let us borrow it. The three hours that we have been spending each week on washing our clothes each week was eliminated! We just throw it in there with the soap and it comes out clean. Almost something I had forgotten about. And he is going to let us use it each week, what a blessing!

Then, a family we are teaching has some land with a ton of fruit trees, We were able to go and pick lots of mangos, guayabanas, carambolas, and niches. Lots of fruit that I have come to love in my time here in Vallarta.

Things are going well here. Had a lot of really important moments this week. Divisons with several district leaders, meetings with the Stake Presidency, interviews with the President. Most of the week I was pretty sick, but got some medicine this weekend and am doing better now. 

Enjoying things and working hard. 

Elder Brighton

Dear family and friends,

Trying to do better about writing more. I am doing very well and loving it here in Vallarta. The weather is just like Houston, so that means a lot of sweating and if I thought I was dark before, I am definitly finding my native american roots (and skin tones). 

We are doing well and working closely with many people here. Both members, those that have strayed from the path, and those that have yet to find it. Our area and companionship is doing well. We are almost entirely focused in one neighborhood/pueblito and so it is a big change from the monstrous area in Auditorio. But we had an incredible expereince that I will never forget this week. An older sister who had not attended a church meeting in over 20 years (when they still met in the homes of members) open her doors to us and after teaching the restoration where the Spirit was present and strong, and after following up on the Book of Mormon and her reading, she accepted the invitation to attend Sunday. The service was incredible and the Spirit abound. She was able to be with her grandson who was baptized recently. When she introduced herself in Gospel Principles she stood to say, I am Sister Guadalupe, I not been able to come for many many years, but thanks to these good young men I am back again. It brought a feeling more powerful than the majority of the baptsimal services I have attended. Upon leaving after the services concluded, she expressed that she wants all of her family to be there with her and that she will be back. She is a strong and well learned woman and plays the role of a matriarch in a large extended family that all live in the same little neighborhood. We look forward to working with her and her family knowing the joy that is well within reach as she shares her newfound testimony with her loved ones.

Personally I am happy. We now live 5 blocks from a little park. We go in the morning and run now several times a week. It felt so good this week to put on my old Nikes that I brought with me from Rice and go for a brief 15 minute run. Though I am nothing like I was before, I was pleased to find I had not lost all condition and hope. If only we had more time in the mornings to dedicate to exercise! But all is well, staying focused on why I am here. But it sure did feel good to open up the stride a little the last 6 minutes or so. Hope to make it a habit. The path goes around 3 open soccer fields and is just under a half mile (by my rough pace calculations).

Hope everyone is doing great and enjoying their summer. I am well, happy, and working and praying hard. 

With love,

Elder Brighton

Dearest family and friends,

After an incredible 11 months in Zapopan, last Monday I received my reassignment to a new area in Ixtapa. It is in Vallarta, touching the southern border of the state of Nayarit.

There are very few times in life that we have the opportunity to begin anew, completely fresh. No expectations from anyone, the chance to be exactly who you always wanted to be. A few of those times might be when we leave the house for the first time for college. Another if we travel for a summer. And perhaps when we begin a new life as a married person. These opportunities are special and rare. 

This last week I was given this chance. All that I have learned in this first year, all the mistakes that I have made, all the experiences that I have had are safely stored in my memory banks (and in part in the pages of a journal). So with two suitcases and a mix of emotions I arrived Monday night near the coast of the Pacific. 

It has been a busy week. But what a beautiful experience thus far. The climate is very similar to Houston, humid and hot, sweating while in the shade. It is an area very tropic with trees and vegetation that look like they belong to a movie set from Jurassic Park or Avatar. Lizards and other creatures abound. 

Time is always so short, but I am happy where I am and looking forward to getting to know and gain the trust and love of the people here, and working hard alongside them. 

A simple miracle that we had this week was in looking for a place to live. We are going to be working in a small town a little father away, and so we had to go and find a place to stay there. The first 4 nights we stayed with a couple other Elders sleeping on the floor. The picture included is the first night we had in our new home. After looking all over the place and not having success finding a place with adequate privacy and price, the young boy that was showing us around said, ´I think I saw a place for rent´. After a couple hours of looking around ourselves, the first place this young boy took us turned out to be the place. A cozy house with lots of windows to combat the heat. And a price that really surprised us, cheaper than all the rest we had found. With our new headquarters of sorts, a place to feel comfortable and call home we are excited to get after it this week.

We were given this assignment with the instructions that it would be a difficult and testing experience, but with a great unity that we are already developing as a companionship we look forward with a perfect brightness of hope.

Please keep up the prayers for all of us out here. Protection, positivity, and the ability to know where to go and what to do. We need it.

With great love,

Elder Brighton