Dogs of Santa Ana

January 27, 2020

¡Hola Y'alllllll!!

This week was so bomb, we had a ton of fun over here:) First things first though, Hermana Franklin and I made the best purchase of my mission and bought a little box of dog treats. The dogs of Santa Ana are all BIEN happy now and so am I bc they don't bark at me that much anymore (I'll try to add as many pics as I can, but I have about 100 oops aha).

Other than that though, we were able to see our amiga Paola and re-set her baptism date for February 2nd, so we're really hoping and praying that her dad will be okay with it!! We also saw Manuel, and he was absolutely rolling bc he found out Hermana Franklin is left handed and so he made her try to write with her right hand, it was sooo funny oh my goodness. Then we really got him when we told him what us southern people call "shopping carts" buggies. He doesn't really know any English, but he knew that didn't sound right, and he was dying laughing. 

This week we met the coolest guy ever, Diego. He talked to missionaries before, but then he moved to Alaska for a minute to work, and while he was there he read the whole Book of Mormon!! He just got back pretty recently, and now he's super excited to be learning again! 

On Friday, Hermana Reyna Aburto from the Relief Society General Presidency came to speak to all the Spanish members down here, and it was soo so good. She's such a good speaker and her testimony is so so strong. Our girl Bertha was able to come with us and she said she really liked it, and we really like that:) 

Oh my goodness AND we got see my homie Eduardo!!! I love that boy so much (he's the 9 year old that got baptized about a month ago) and he's still doing good. He was telling us that his new favorite thing is watching science videos on YouTube and also eating tortas, love that. 

But that's all the exciting stuff this week, I hope that y'all are all thriving in work and school and everything in between! I love all of y'all so much, and I hope that everyone has a good week:) Just everyone do me a favor and hug your family really tight, or call them and tell them how much you love them!! 

(Also tomorrow is Hermana Franklin's birthday so feel free to shoot her an email wishing her happy birthday @ nova.franklin@missionary.org )

Con Amor,

Hermana Brayton

some friends at the Reina Aburto devotional

muchos puppies and their galletas :-)

January 20,2020

¡hola y'alllllll!

¿Cómo están? I hope everyone is so good, bc we are so good over here in Santa Ana:) This week was kind of a party and a half so let's get right to it. My birthday ended so well bc we went and talked to our girl Bertha for a while. She's so funny and I love that girl so much, and she even came to church yesterday which was so good bc she loved it a lot. She even wore her ~special~ eye shadow so you know she was excited:) 

This week we also went and saw our best amigos Manuel, Paola, La Familia Ramirez (& puppies), and we made a new amigo: Israel!! We met Israel while we were petting his neighbor's dog, not surprising, but he's actually such a cool guy. He had heard about the Book of Mormon a little bit before, so he was super excited to have his own copy and read it for himself! 

On Friday we had lunch with our Obispo and his cute family, and his daughter left this morning to serve a mission in Mexico City! It was super cute bc she had so many questions for us and she was super nervous, and on Sunday when she was saying bye to everyone it really took me back to my last Sunday at home. It's crazy how long ago that was, but it also kind of feels like it was yesterday. It's also crazy how much I feel like I've learned and grown and changed since then. I definitely know a lot more Spanish, and a LOT more about the grace and love of God. Missions are crazy. Oh and also on Friday, Hermana Franklin and I had too close of a call with some big ole possums, and let me just say I do not like those guys but I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. I love it here:)

But okay this week I just want to share a few scripture thoughts. I started reading the Book of Mormon over again and too big things that stuck out to me in the first few chapters are humility and faith. These are two things that I feel like I talk about a lot, but they're just so so important and I always feel like I have so much room to improve on them. 1 Nephi is such an incredible book to read when it comes to learning about both. Nephi is the perfect example of being humble enough to accept the Lord's will and commandments and having enough faith to act. I remember in seminary how much we talked about the faith of Nephi, and I really want to encourage you all to read a few verses in 1 Nephi (the very first part of el Libro de Mormón) and learn more of his example. And as always, si tienen preguntas, déjame saber!:)

Okay but really I love y'all sooo so much and I'm so grateful for each of you. I hope everyone has the best week and that you all remember that Jesus loves you

Con Amor,

Hermana Brayton:)

first time cutting hair (but don't tell Hermana Franklin that 😃)

big  birthday balloon 

puppies (siempre)

This guy has 1 blue eye & 1 brown eye!

¡¡20 AÑOS!!

January 13, 2020

¡Hola Y'all!!

Wow thank you everyone so much for all of the birthday wishes!! Turns out 20 doesn't feel much different than 19 yet, but I'm so excited for what this year has to hold!! Today to celebrate we went to the zoo here in Santa Ana which was a party and a half, but bc of that I don't have a whole ton of time to email, so I'm so sorry that I didn't respond to everyone!

This past week wasn't super exciting, but Hermana Franklin and I still had some fun:) She's just starting to feel better so this next week we're going to work double to make up for it!  Last week we were able to pull some weeds for our friend Manuel, and then on Saturday he took us to get some tacos de carne asada {beef}, cabeza {brain}, y lengua {tongue}, and honestly 10/10 would recommend. We also were able to see so many puppies this week, which is always a big ole blessing:) 

We also had zone conference this week!! It was so good, and we were able to talk a ton about the Plan of Salvation and how we can help our friends here understand it more. I also got to see my girl Hermana Hinton, and almost all of the other Hermanas in the mission! I love the people here so much, and it's always so fun when we can get together:)

I really liked what we talked about at church yesterday though bc it was all about family history! I think there really is something so special in learning about your ancestors and where they came from and the things they went through so that we can be here where we are today. That's something that I really love about serving here in California, people here have so many different stories and backgrounds. There's a really cool website (and also an app) called familysearch.org where you can do more research into your ancestry and even have a little family tree. I know I'm so grateful for my grandparents for putting in so much time and effort so that I can look back and read about my ancestors, and it would be so cool if y'all could do the same!

Okay pues, I love y'all so so much and I'm soo grateful for all of the love and support!! I hope everyone has an amazing week!!

Con Amor,

Hermana Brayton:)

The Zoo

The Zoo & a Ferris Wheel

Hermana Hinton y yo

Hermana Franklin y yo

Puppy!

More puppies!

January 06, 2020

¡¡hola y'all!!

I hope everyone is having such a good new year so far!! So far so good over here:) This week was pretty chill not going to lie. Hermana Franklin has been pretty sick so we've been resting a bit, so keep her in y'alls prayers por favor! 

But okay on New Year's Eve, we went with a few other missionaries to help this cute old couple pack up their house some bc they're moving, and it was so fun. Actually so funny hahah this lady was a trip. They had been living in that same house for over 40 years, so there was sooo much stuff, and everything had a story! There was one room that had so many cool vintage clothes, and she told us we could take anything we wanted, so Hermana Franklin and I scored some CUTE stuff. Fun times:)

Throughout the rest of the week we had a few super fun lessons! We taught our friend Paola who's 10, and she decided she wants to be baptized on the 26th! We also went by Eduardo to check-in and talk to him a little more, I still love that kid so much. On Friday we taught our friend Alma with her little sister and her niece that are both 6, and I don't know if I've said this before, but I LOVE teaching kids so much! It's definitely my favorite thing. They just have such unique insights and such funny questions, and I love watching them learn and start to understand things:) On Saturday we had a lesson with Manuel, and he's such a good guy, but he's having just a little bit of a hard time. At this point, he's really just like another grandpa to me, and it breaks my heart to see him feeling down sometimes, but we reassured him that God really loves each and every one of us so so much and He'll never leave us alone!

Sunday was honestly a party bc our church got moved from 9am to 10:30 and we also had 4 whole people that we're teaching come and love it!! Our girl Bertha came, and Paola, and Norfanelia and Felipe!!  I love church:) Oh and also little Eduardo came and got confirmed so he's officially an official member of the church! 

And just for a quick spiritual thought, one of the Elders shared this scripture this week and it really stuck out to me mucho. It's Mosiah 26:30 and it says, "Yea, and as often as my people repent will I forgive them their trespasses against me." And I love that so much starting a new year bc we start clean! We can repent every day and be forgiven every day, and what an incredible blessing that is. God knows we can't be perfect, that's why He sent Jesus to the earth for us! We can and will make mistakes, but we can and should repent and keep changing our hearts for the better

I love y'all so much and I know this year is going to be amazing!! Don't forget to say your prayers and read your escrituras!

Con Amor,

Hermana Brayton:)

carol.brayton@missionary.org

2500 N Bristol St

Santa Ana, CA 92706

Hermana Franklin y yo 😎

Hermana Franklin y yo 😉

servicio with the homies

the CUTEST baby pitbull in the world