Max y Living Water

June 8, 2020

¡hola y'all!

    Wow I feel like last Monday was just yesterday bc this week flew by!! But I hope everyone is doing so well and staying happy out there. Life is still (always) good here in Cali and we're still (always) some happy boys:))

    Not a whole ton happened this week, but a big highlight was going to see my best friend Max. He's so precious oh my goodness. He has a lot of ~deep~ questions, so we talked with him for a while about why we're here and what our purpose is in this life. It was a pretty great time, and then he went and surprised us by getting his guitar and singing us a few songs before we left. He is such a SWEETIE pie abuelito and plus he told me he could make me some more spoon rings so I'm excited:)

    Other than that though, we're really pretty tranquilas over here. Except last night we got a little surprise and Hermana Black and Hermana Llontop came over to our apartment at like 10:45 bc their apartment got termites yikes. It's so fun though bc I have more people to talk to in real life and I miss that sometimes hahah so hopefully they stay for a while.

    But let's see, this week we had a big ole zoom meeting with our whole mission, and President Golden was talking about the story of the woman at the well in Matthew 4. So I went through and read it again, and Jesus talks about how he provides "living water." Verses 13 and 14 say, "Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." I lovvvve that bc it's so symbolic, but it just makes SO much sense to me. A lot of the things in the life that value, or even the things that we worry about, will not last. Our temporal struggles, triumphs, desires, and things like that could for surely be good experiences to help us learn and grow, but the things themselves will •not• last. How beautiful is that though? Jesus Christ WILL last, forever and ever and ~ever~ for literal eternity. His love, his grace, his help, his comfort and care; the "living water" will never end or dry up, and I can promise you that:)

    Pero sí! I love y'all a whole bunch and I miss y'all!! Remember to show some love to someone who needs it, Jesus will be proud:)

Con amor,

Hermana Brayton 😊

cute quote from my soul sis Hna Clark bc it's muy important !!

empanadas guau🤩

12 Whole Months!!

June 1, 2020

¡hola y'all!!!!!

    How is everyone doing?? So SO good I hope!:) Alrighty I hope everyone is sitting down for this one bc WHOA I've officially been a missionary for a whole year (in 3 days)!! It does not feel like that long at all, but also it kind of feels like this has been a little separate eternity, so idk it's wild. For surely without a doubt though it's been the best year so far. I've learned so many things about so many things, and there's no way I could sum it all up right now, but talk to me in a quick 6 months and I'll tell you more;)

    But sí! This week was actually too good. We didn't have a ton of stuff going on at first, but on Friday we had our mission's first ever virtual devotional from one of the high up leaders of the church, who is over our little piece of paradise here in California. His name is President Kevin Pearson and he is so funny and kind of super intense, but like in a good way. He and his wife spoke a ton about becoming disciples of Christ ~forever~ and that is also something I can't sum up in an email bc whoa there are so many things to say. At the end though, he was talking about our whole situation we're in rn in the world, and he said that we don't need to keep debating on whether the glass is half empty or half full bc the glass is absolutely full!! I know it definitely does not feel like that all the time, but I do really think that it's all about perspective. Things aren't perfect, but nothing ever is, and we all know that things don't have to be perfect to be good. Life is good y'all, don't forget it!:)

    Also this week we had two big ole miracles happen right at the same time. The first one is that my guy Tino that I was teaching in my last area got baptized!!! And technology really is such a fat blessing bc we we're able to watch through a little group zoom call, and one of the Elders that taught him forever ago was able to watch all the way from New York!! It's crazy too just how strongly you can feel like spirit even through a video call. The other miracle is that Hermana Jensen and I got to go to our bff Max's house so that he could watch the baptism as well!! We just stayed put in his front yard and we all wore our masks, but wow it was so good. He's such a cutie pie abuelito. 

    También, I went back and read one of the talks from General Conference in April and I want to share some of it with y'all. It's called "Prayers of Faith" by Henry B Eyring (whose bday was yesterday yeehaw) and I just really think everyone should go read it. There's a part in the middle where he says that there are a few things that we still don't know, but one thing that he knows for sure is that "We as a people will become more united amid increasing conflict." Right now it's pretty clear that there's increasing conflict in the world, but I believe whole heartedly in this promise. The love that we give freely to all the people around us has so much more power than we think. Not only that, but God's love can be felt 1000x stronger when it's shared through charity and kindness. 

     So I just want y'all to know that I pray for y'all all the time, and I have SO much love for each of you:) pls reach out if you ever need anything! I'm always here:)

Con amor,

Hermana Brayton:)

Us and Max 😊

some pics around Chapman University

Hna Jensen stays baking for me and she even kills spiders for me,
so I had to make her some real tacos 

O R A N G E

LOVED this quote from my guy Ronald Reagan