Week 2 - Was That An Earthquake?

August 16, 2017

I'm alive and well! Wow, I don't have much time but I am loving every single second here. It's amazing. The flight was long and I did get to know Elder Wood well haha. BUT. There were like 8 other Elders we met up with. Sister G. and I are the only gringa sisters here. I can understand and speak pretty well, well enough to communicate but I still have a lot to learn! Sister G. is awesome, shes my first companion and we are rooming with a sister from Columbia and another from Lima, Peru! They are so fun. Anyway everything is so new and we´re just starting to get to know everyone and everything here (there's only like 60 people total in the ccm here). So far we've just unpacked and showered and had a meeting with the ccm (missionary training center) president so I'm really excited to get going learning Spanish and the gospel. Oh man, the atmosphere is so amazing here. I LOVE IT and I´m sure I´ll just come to love it more. 

The ccm looks over the temple and being on the grounds of the temple and the ccm creates an AMAZING spirit here. You can feel it everywhere you go. I'm excited for when I can speak Spanish better to really get to know the other latino elders and sisters here, but one step at a time. Sometimes I just pretend I understand even though I don't cause its just easier that way, but I´ll work on that, haha. All the elders and sisters here are so friendly here and I really like the smaller atmosphere because everyone feels a lot closer. Okay everyone is still writing and I don't know what else to say. I don't know how they are writing so much we haven't even done anything. 

Anyway, hope y'all are doing well since the one day I haven't been there. 

LOVE YOU ALL

August 23, 2017

Familia y amigos!

I can´t believe it´s already been a week!! One of the elders in my district described what it feels like perfectly: Days feel like weeks, weeks
feel like days. It´s so true.

Wednesday we arrived at the CCM. The flight was sooo long and sleeping on the plane is not very fun, but we made it to Santiago, so that´s what´s important! I even talked to a guy about the church on the plane, but he said he thought religion was as pointless as government hahaha. So that was that. But I told him about the Tetons and he was interested in that, so maybe he´ll feel God´s love in nature! Ha! When we got to the CCM we got to our rooms and Hermana Green and I are in a room with 4 latinas. They are so, so funny and have so much sass. They keep me laughing all the time. They don´t know English, so we´ve been trying to teach them while they help us with Spanish. They´re so awesome. Spanish is constantly spinning around in my head, it´s so crazy! The CCM is on the third floor (there´s only about 60 of us) and below it is where people can stay when they come to the temple. The temple is right outside the CCM, so we are always on temple grounds so there´s constantly a very special spirit!

MOM!! THERE'S NO COLD MILK HERE, AHHH!! But they do have runny yogurt so that's good. I put some bran in it every  morning for breakfast.

THURS: Elder Packer (yeah, Boyd K. Packer´s son) came and talked to us and it was super good. He told us that every convert should have a profound experience and if taught right will never fall away from the church. They need to be truly converted. It´s not enough to have a testimony. It´s their actions that prove their conversions. They we had a class about the gift of tongues, and I realized it´s not necessarily just something you have, but it comes to you at the time you need it, bringing words or phrases to your remembrance when you need it. I really feel I´ve been blessed by it as I´ve been able to understand so much every day. Sometimes I won´t understand the exact words someone is saying but I know exactly what they´re saying, it´s amazing! But don´t let it sound like it´s super easy, cause it´s not. It´s frustrating trying to teach practice lessons in Spanish and wanting to say so much but having no idea what to say. It takes tons of work and constant studying and practice and studying and more practice until your head hurts. But I know it will all be worth it, and attitude really is everthing here in the CCM! I´m just so excited to get out and start teaching!

FRI: was a frustrating day. Lot´s of highs and lows. But let me just tell you...I love my district. We get along so well. We know how to have fun, but it can get so spiritual with them, I love it. It´s amazing how different we are yet everyone contributes so much.

Sunday night we had a devotional where we each wrote down our favorite hymn and name and put it in a basket, then the mission president´s daughter (she has down syndrome, she so cute:) picked  songs and who ever had that song as their favorite song went up and explained why, then we sang a verse in Spanish and a verse in English. My favorite is, "I Believe in Christ". But there was a really amazing spirit there because every song meant so much to that particular person, and you could feel that love and spirit testifying of the truth of these songs.

OH, OH, MONDAY we had an earthquake!!!! It was pretty small and lasted about 30 sec., but it was so cool!! we all looked at each other when our desks started shaking and were like, is this an earthquake?? One of the teachers came to check on us to see if we were okay so, it definitely was ha ha. Monday night I was in charge of Book of Mormon study with our district, and I prayed to know which chapter to read. I felt strongly about Alma 24, and I strongly encourage all of you to read it. The faith they had is incredible, and they were thanking and praising God up until they died. I know if you read this chapter you will find something you need to hear.

Today we get to go to the temple and we´re so excited. We walked around the city this morning and it reminds me of a mix between New York (except in Spanish) and Salt Lake. There are so many different people and the city is so cool. But whenever we try to make eye contact with people and simply say hola, most people look away or at the ground, ha ha. But hearts will be softened for those who need to hear this glorious message!

Love and miss you all, make this week a good one! 

Hermana Briggs

A few sisters and me.

Sis. G and me with our roommates.

My first companion, Sis. G. and me. 

Week 1 - I Love Santiago!

August 30, 2017

Hola Familia y Amigos,

Loving the food

Wednesday: Last pday (preparation day) was super great! We got to go to a session at the Santiago temple, and it was amazing. I love how no matter where you go, the beautiful teachings of the gospel are always the same! We also got to go outside into the city..we got to get a taste of Santiago and their culture. This mtc (missionary training center) is one of the only mtcs where you get to go outside of the mtc grounds while attending the mtc, so that´s cool! We went to Liders, which is like the Walmart brand. There are no goldfish crackers, no milk, and tooonns of bread. I guess it´s a give and take. Hermana G. and I also got a much needed nap, haha. Hermana G. and I sat and talked. It had been a hard week.  I shared a scripture and gave her advice, and I know what I said to her was inspired, I can´t even remember everything I said. 

Thursday: Hermana G. and I taught a lesson to our practice investigator Raphael, which is kinda hard because we know exactly what we want to say, but can´t say it! Anyway, at one point Hermana G. was trying to say that the Holy Ghost is a member of the Godhead, so she said, ¨El Espiritu Santo es un miembro de .....´she couldn´t think of the word. In my head I was hoping she wouldn't say this, but she did..."un miembro de el Dios cabeza´...HAHA. (it translates directly to God´s head) Our teacher\investigator started busting up laughing, and so did we. It was so funny. Oh, my, just so y'all know, Godhead in Spanish is Trinidad, not Dios cabeza.

Friday: We had hamburgers for lunch!!!! Oh man they weren´t grilled and were kinda soggy but we didn´t even care!! They had mayo and ketchup, and even guac!! Most days we have chicken and rice, or a variation of it. Sometimes we have salmon or pasta with ´salsa´which is just sauce, but it´s always decent. Oh, they even gave us cheesecake. Blessed. We can also go running or exercise outside the city everyday as long as we stay within bounds, so Friday we ran in a really pretty park, the one with the fountain and palm trees. I brought a passalong card Rachel gave me in Spanish from Peru and we actually talked to a guy sitting on a bench and gave him the card! It was so scary but he was really nice and respectful. 

Saturday: We went out into the grounds around the temple to share a scripture and practice our Spanish with the people out there and we stopped and talked to a few old ladies who were so nice and sweet, and I could understand almost everything they said! Then we shared the scripture with another women and after we had her read it a thought popped into my head (definitely the spirit) to ask her what her favorite scripture was. I handed her my Book of Mormon and she opened to D&C 122:7-9. It is when Joseph Smith was in Carthage and God tells him that though the jaws of hell will open unto him, it will be for his good and for his experience. She continued to tell us that she knows our mission is going to be hard and the Chileans speak fast and really bad, and it´s going to be frustrating and challenging, but it will all be for our good, and God will bless us so much. It will be so worth it. I just about started tearing up because it was EXACTLY what I needed right then. It´s amazing how much God knows us and works through us and others to strengthen us and others. We are His hands, and that´s such a privilege.

Sunday: I love Sundays so much. I taught Relief Society and it went super good. I taught about the Holy Ghost, and I decided after studying and preparing a lot, we really underestimate how powerful the Spirit is. We need to learn to be sensitive to it and allow him to work in us and we can become powerful instruments in God´s hands. 

Monday: I've started reading my scriptures out loud and it´s really helped with pronunciation and understanding Spanish. It´s hard and frustrating, but it will just come with time and practice! I had an amazing study experience this day, and can witness to you all that Jesus is the Christ, and there is no place I'd rather be than serving Him in Chile right now. I am so honored, blessed, and humbled to be representing Him. I really encourage you all to read in 3 Nephi when he appears to the Nephites. AHHH you will be so filled with the Spirit. The Book of Mormon is sooo amazing.

Hope everyone is doing well. I pray for you every night and miss you all tons! But I´m super happy here. Love you all!

Hermana Briggs