Happy Happy Thanksgiving!

    There are no words to express my gratitude today. I absolutely love Thanksgiving, the spirit of it, the memories and traditions associated with it, the food, the people.. This is my first Thanksgiving I have ever spent away from home, and I have to say it is the Thanksgiving I have been the most thankful. That may seem backwards.. Don't get me wrong, saying I missed my family dearly would be a huge understatement. I miss them especially today, BUT I am absolutely overcome with gratitude for them and for my mission. If I was home right now, I would be having so fun and creating memories and eating amazing food by all the incredible cooks I am BLESSED to have in my family, but I would not filled with this amazing appreciation for my family and my mission. I wouldn't be here at all. Today, I am thankful for all of the love and prayers and sweet words being sent my way. I am thankful for my Savior Jesus Christ and his atoning sacrifice for us. I am thankful for my mission, this precious precious time that is changing me and my life and my family for the better. I am overcome with gratitude for my family. I am thankful for the scriptures that teach us to.. 

"Live in thanksgiving daily." Alma 34:38

The scriptures teach us that..

"He who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious." D&C 78:19

The scriptures also teach that..

Mosiah 2:19-25 

19 O how you ought to thank your heavenly King!

 20 I say unto you, my brethren, that if you should render all the thanks and praise which your whole soul has power to possess, to that God who has created you, and has kept and preserved you, and has caused that ye should rejoice, and has granted that ye should live in peace one with another—
 21 I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants.
 22 And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you.
 23 And now, in the first place, he hath created you, and granted unto you your lives, for which ye are indebted unto him.
24 And secondly, he doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you; and therefore he hath paid you. And ye are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever and ever; therefore, of what have ye to boast?
 25 And now I ask, can ye say aught of yourselves? I answer you, Nay. Ye cannot say that ye are even as much as the dust of the earth; yet ye were created of the dust of the earth; but behold, it belongeth to him who created you.

     I absolutely love this. Even if we were to render all the thanks and praise which our whole souls have power to posses and serve him with all of our whole souls, we are STILL indebted to Him because He was the one that created us. We owe Him EVERYTHING. There is no way to repay Him, but we CAN show our GRATITUDE by keeping His commandments.
     Today, Thanksgiving, is our Pday! We had cinnamon rolls for breakfast and decorated the Visitors' Center for Christmas with all of the Sisters and Senior Couples. It was so fun! Tonight we are going to dinner at a members home, the Simpsons. They are empty-nesters and HILARIOUS and she is a fabulous cook (BONUS). I love Thanksgiving. 
     I have so much to write about! 
     Some fun things:

- Everyone that lives here who is foreign, is really foreign. It's not like their great great grandparents moved here years ago. They themselves came from their home country to California.. so the food is totally authentic and AMAZING. This week alone I had homemade Albanian and Philipino food. Yes.

- California oranges have changed my life. Picking them fresh off the tree and peeling them then and there..MMHHH there's nothing like it. 

- I FINALLY went to Chipotle after crying every time I drove past it for two months. I wanted to make my family super jealous but then my Momma told me they were building one in Pocatello... where they will quickly get to know my family

- We got a new sister in the VC! So I am officially not the new-b anymore 0:)

- Our spiritual morning studies now have some SERIOUS Latino theme music and often a vocalist to go with it. (My neighbor blasts and sings it at 8 am..no idea..) 

- Elder Larry R Lawrence is coming to speak to us in December! Exciting! He gave an amazing talk this last conference, "What Lack I Yet"

      We had a special visit from Salt Lake headquarters last week that prepared us for this Christmas season! We got to see the new (not-yet-released) Christmas Initiative Video!! The theme last year was "He is the Gift." I have no idea if I am supposed to write this but "A Savior Is Born" is the new theme. The video associated with this is absolutely unreal. The church is INCREDIBLE. We are SO excited to show the video here at the Visitors' Center and remind people what Christmas is all about, the Savior. I can't wait for you to see the video and share it on social media..MISSIONARY WORK 0:) 
     I finished the Book of Mormon and began reading the New Testament. I still study the Book of Mormon a little, but I am focusing on the New Testament. I hope no one takes this the wrong way, but I am just being honest. I have felt very different reading the New Testament. It is BEAUTIFUL and POWERFUL and is a true witness of the Savior and His ministry. But, there is a power and Spirit about the Book of Mormon that you can't find anywhere else. I New Testament brings the Spirit and testifies of truth, but I have truly felt a notice-able loss of the Spirit in my studies. I used to get so excited to keep reading the Book of Mormon and study it and I would miss is when I wasn't reading it. I was sad when I had to put it down. I have not felt that same Spirit or desire with the New Testament. I dont mean this to come across the wrong way, I just want to testify of the power of the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is true. I know it from my CORE. I love the Book of Mormon and hold it so dear to my heart.
     So now, about my people!! :) Its been almost two weeks so a lot has happened!
     Ace is one of our recent converts. He is from Hong-Kong. We were teaching him about tithing and in his broken english he said, "I wish I paid tithing because that would mean that I had a job." Haha I just loved this because it shows his sincere desire to be obedient.
     Roslyn had a baptismal date for this Saturday, but she broke her foot a few days ago and her mom is sick in the hospital. Sorry, let me clarify. Roslyn did not break her foot. Satan broke her foot. Satan works so hard on these people who have chosen to follow the Savior and be baptized. She is taking a break to heal and she wont be getting baptized this weekend. But she said to us, "I know the adversary is working against me, but that doesn't effect my faith at all. I want to pick back up right where we left off, with baptism." So we are disappointed, but keep praying for her and TRUST in the Lord's timing. 
     Paradize said yes to baptism!!!! We planned a very special lesson to have with him up at the Visitors' Center where we showed him Finding Faith in Christ, which is all about Christ's miracles. Then we taught him the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Spirit was so strong. The Spirit told me to ask him to be baptized and I said, "Paradize, will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and--" and he totally cuts me off and goes, "YES!!" haha I was like, "Oh my goodness that's great Paradize, will you get baptized?" And he goes, "YES! WHEN?" I was 1/2 giggling 1/2 crying. It was the sweetest thing. He was so happy and excited. The Spirit was so strong. I was overcome with joy. We set a date for December 12! THEN, we went over a few days later to continue teaching him and his grandma FREAKED out at us. He lives with her and she is a psycho less-active. It's not the kind of less-active that's like, "oh I stopped going to church because of work," it's like the crazy, make-up-false-doctrine kind of less active. She sat there and screamed at us for 15 minutes, accusing us of manipulating him and going behind her back to ask him to get baptized and he only said yes because you are just two pretty, young girls and there is no way in heck he is getting baptized any time soon. She said some other things that were extremely hurtful and offensive to the Spirit. All three of us (Me, Sister Harper, and Paradize) kept trying to get a word in and calmly explain ourselves and apologize, but it was to no avail. I was sobbing. We calmly stood up and apologized kindly through her screams and my tears and left. That sorrow and longing and hurt was so painful. We just hugged and cried without words. We dropped our plans for the rest of the night and drove straight to the temple. We knew that we would receive peace and comfort there that we would not receive anywhere else. We were right. We drove and the second it was in our sights, we could feel a literal burden lift off our shoulders. As we walked the grounds and sat on the temple, looking at the view, I could feel Heavenly Father wrap His arms around me and tell me everything was going to be okay. 
     I learned so many things from this experience. When she began to yell and scream, I could physically feel the Spirit leave. My mind was racing and I was filled with confusion. I learned that God is not a God of confusion. I learned to turn the experience around and use it to help me better understand the Atonement. This is what Christ faced every single day when he was here on the earth. Being yelled at and accused gave me the SMALLEST glimpse into how He might have felt. I learned that I needed to forgive Beatrice. I don't need to forgive her to her face (we are never going back there again), but I need to forgive her in my heart. Jesus Christ forgave the people who crucified Him in the exact moment when He was on the cross. We began reading Alma 36, but we didnt need to read farther than verse 3:

"And now, O my son Helaman, behold, thou art in thy youth, and therefore, I beseech of thee that thou wilt hear my words and learn of me; for I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day."

     Trust in God. The Spirit told me to trust in God. Trust in His timing. Luckily, He is running this thing. We are all in His Hands and He has a plan for each one of us and His children, even Paradize and Beatrice. Trust in God includes trust in his timing. Paradize told us that he wants to continue to learn, so we are going to teach him on Sundays after church, kind of in secret like Alma the Elder haha.

     Ann-Helen passed her baptismal interview and is getting baptized this Sunday!!! We had a powerful lesson with her about her relationship with God. I think I have shared this before but she has trouble feeling that God really is her loving Heavenly Father and understanding that relationship. She has a counselor named Greg who has helped her so much. She trusts him and loves him and turns to him for advice. He is always there for her and tells her that he loves her and would never hurt her. He also gives criticism to help her grow. As she was talking about Greg, the Spirit told me to compare Greg to our Father in Heaven. I was extremely hesitant because I didnt know how it would turn out and I didnt WANT to compare Greg to Heavenly Father, but the Spirit told me again. So, I went for it. I kindly told Ann-Helen to think about how much Greg loves her, and she nods. Then I told her that Heavenly Father loves her way more. I asked her if she believes Greg would never hurt her. She quickly confirmed. I told her that before Heavenly Father sent her to earth, He promised her that He would never hurt her. As the conversation went on, she began to cry. She said, "I know what you are saying is true." I told her that it wasn't what I was saying, it was Heavenly Father! It was the most beautiful experience and confirmed my testimony of our relationship with our Father in Heaven. I love this quote as it has enhanced my understanding of our relationship with God:

 "Of all the terms of Diety, He has asked us to call Him Father." Elder Holland

       

      Despite the disappointments this week, the Lord never ceases to work MIRACLES. There are miracles happening every single day here in San Leandro. We ran into SEVEN people this week whose hearts are completely open and ready for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I will give a few examples. We got a referral from a member of a guy who asked if the missionaries could come over because he was ready for Jesus in his life. We stopped by and set up a return appointment. We went to a former investigator and he said he knew we would come and he wants to go back to church. We got a referral from a sister at the VC of a man from Ethiopia and we stopped by his house and he was so open and kind and told us that he was so excited to come to church. We got another referral from an elder of a man who had just moved here and we called him and told him it was the missionaries and he was SO happy and asked for the address of the church because he wanted to come this Sunday. Then the most beautiful miracle. We finally got around to going back to see a lady who we met a while ago, her name is Kayla. Before we went in, I prayed that we would have an opportunity and situation to teach and that the Spirit would be there, because a lot of times with an informal lesson it is really loud and chaotic and we just needed a peaceful situation to TEACH. We walked in and everyone was sitting around on the couches calmly, almost like they were in the middle of their own lesson. We sat down and began talking and teaching. They are from Belize! It was going really well and the husband told us a story where he left his body and Jesus gave him a second chance. He told us that his life hasnt been the same ever since and he testified to us of Jesus Christ and the afterlife and keeping the commandments. Then we decided to read Alma 36 with him about Alma the Younger's conversion story, which was like identical to this man's story. The Spirit was so strong as we went around and read with prayers in our hearts for these special people. When we finished, no one was speaking for a minute. He looked up at us and goes, "I know this book is true. It is from God."OH MY HEART. I was able to tearfully testify to him that the book was indeed true and that it was indeed from God. The joy and light that filled his eyes was indescribably beautiful. He was so happy. I have never been more excited or grateful or happy in my life. It had literally been like 15 minutes. THE BOOK OF MORMON IS TRUE. Someone who had picked it up 10 minutes earlier for the first time testified to me that it was true, and it is. I love this work. I love being a missionary. The Spirit that accompanies you here is so sacred and beautiful. The Lord places people along ALL of our paths who are ready to hear the gospel. There are miracles occurring in every single one of our lives every day. I am so grateful and humbled to be a part of the miracles here in San Leandro, California.  
     It is my prayer that we can not only be thankful today, but to carry gratitude in our hearts every single day. I know that our Heavenly Father blesses us even more when we are grateful and that being grateful makes us HAPPY. 

"True gratitude is an expression of hope and testimony. It comes from acknowledging that we do not always understand the trials of life but trusting that one day we will."

President Uchtdorf

 Happy Thanksgiving. I am so grateful for all of you. I love you.
Love,
Sister Brinton

This lady we went to contact let us pick these oranges fresh off of her tree. Yes, they are oranges even though they are bright yellow!! They were DELICIOUS!! 

Everyone grows succulents and cactus here 
because they can't really grow anything else 
BUT I am okay with that because 
I LOVE SUCCULENTS.

This is Midu, Sarada's son. I am in LOVE with him.

This is my district after singing at a nursing home.

This lady gave us Perssimons??? I don't low how to spell it but it's a kind of fruit I guess.

I am in love with this place. I cannot get over the view!

We got to go to Fenton's Creamery! It is the same place at the end of the movie UP where they are eating ice-cream outside. Their ice-cream is AMAZING!

Onion Rings(duh)

Sister Harper

Cookies and Cream Milkshake that I ate in about 3 seconds...

Our thanksgiving tree :))

Sunsets that literally bring actual tears

This temple has my heart.

The sweet Cantillo family from the Phillipenes

CHIPOTLE BURRITO YES

Thanksgiving break = cinnamon rolls

My momma sent me my Young Womens medallion and Honor Bee in GOLD which I love. I love having the temple so close to my heart :) And  its a great conversation piece.

Decorating the visitors center for christmas!!

We have too much fun

Sister Tam is from China! She is the coolest.

Spanish sisters, Sister Nistler and Sister Resendiz are the BOMB

Sister Herrara

Sister Diaz LOVE her

The tree in the front part of the VC

Sister Taylor cracks me up

Sister Benosa is from the Phillipenes, literally the sweetest thing.

Sister Obando can never take a normal picture, so I joined in.

Transfers

Hi from California!
I never know how to start off my letters haha
   A prophet said that, so I will follow his counsel as scripture. Heavenly Father WANTS us to be happy. Plan of Sadness? Plan of Stress? Plan of HAPPINESS. Men are that they might have joy! We were literally created to be happy. 

"Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, theyspeak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do."  3 Nephi 32:3

   Today I hit my two month mark! I can't believe it's already been two months. I had no idea it was possible to learn and grow this much in such a short amount of time! I guess a mission will do that for ya.
   Transfers are this week! As a trainee, we do this course called "The First Twelve Weeks," which is a program we do every morning to help train! Usually, the new missionary stays with his or her trainer for the first twelve weeks, or first two transfers (a transfer is 6 weeks), so it was no surprise when I found out I was staying in San Leandro/VC with Sister Harper. Of course, I was ecstatic because I love San Leandro and the Visitors' Center and Sister Harper :) My whole district is actually staying the same!!! I don't know how rare that is, but I am so happy and excited because I LOVE my district. We actually had the most lessons taught in the whole zone last week, so we are a good team and I am grateful we get to stay together :) I am also so excited to stay at the Visitors' Center for the HOLIDAYS!! I have heard it gets really busy and stressful, but I say the more the better!! Maybe I'll just extended the invitation of baptism over the loud speaker to the thronging crowds. Miracles do happen. 
   The Bishop has asked us to visit a few less-actives and one of them is an old lady named Sister Crumpton who is a HOOT. She weighs probably 80 pounds. We went to visit her the other day and she started telling us about how she feels like she is going to die soon so we asked her, "what is the first thing you are going to do when you get to heaven?" She paused for a second, looks around, and jumps out of the couch and goes, "HOW-DYY!" It scared us so bad I almost started crying and we were all laughing so hard hahah. Then in her prayer before we left she said, "And Lord, we know that if we are ever out of sorts, we can just call the sister missionaries and say, 'Hey! We're out of sorts!' and they'll come runnin'." OH MY silent tears running down my face I was laughing so hard. Seriously the best. 
   Once a week we do weekly planning which is where we plan our whole week and it usually takes 3 hours. Since this week is transfers, we didnt get our VC schedule or meeting schedule until Sunday, but we had weekly planning on Friday, we did our very best to plan out our whole next week with no schedule (which is impossible). So that took like 3 hours then we finally got our schedule and it took another 3 hours to plug it all in and coordinate and everything, so talk about the longest weekly planning EVER. I'm pretty sure I subconsciously ate a whole party size bag of peanut M&M's (I can thank my Momma for that addiction). At the end of it, Sister Harper and I just laid sprawled out on the floor haha. You dont really think about all the logistics of things like driving time, meeting places, relying on other missionaries, coordinating with members, finding times that work, debating whether or not to go to downtown Oakland past 5 pm, adding in time to find our way after we get lost, ALL coordinating around our VC schedule. BUT I love it. It's great. I am just taking in ALL the ups and downs and stresses of missionary life. What good does it do to stress out and get frustrated? So we just laugh. This has become like MY FAVORITE QUOTE:

"In all of living, have much fun and laughter. Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured." President Hinckley

   SO Ann-Helen and Roslyn are doing great! Keep them in your prayers, we know Satan works the hardest on those who are about to make righteous choices, choices that will bring you closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Lucia accepted our invitation to baptism and we are still working on a date! She wants the elder who taught her to come back and baptize her (he is already home from his mission.) Should be sometime in December! We were teaching Paradize about the gospel of Jesus Christ and we were about to get to baptism, the Spirit was so strong, and his granny butted in and started arguing and changing the subject. The Spirit left and despite our efforts to bring it back, we decided to set up another appointment, so we are going to ask him this week!! Keep them in your prayers as well :) 
   Like I said in my last email, we dont have a lot of time to just go door to door because our time away from the VC is filled with lessons and dinners and referrals, WHICH IS GREAT! But on Saturday, we had a few hours of extra time (if that's what you want to call it, there really is no extra time here) so we decided to go FIND! President Frandsen has been emphasizing this to missionaries lately, to FIND, for we cant baptize if we don't find. We went to about 15 different houses and we giggled in between, talking about people answering the door with their shirt off BLASTING satan music saying they werent interested. And I know this is going to sound so cliche, BUT we decided to go to one more house before we went home. This sweet lady answered the door and her eyes just lit up. She quickly invited us in to her home and said she had taken the lessons before and we were an answer to her prayers. She said she felt so special that we had chosen her out of all the other houses we could have gone to. She just kept saying, "thank you, thank you, thank you." THE POWER OF FAITH and the power of finding. The Lord truly does lead us to those who are prepared to hear the gospel. 
   I saw the fulfillment of a beautiful promise this week in my own life. We have a recent convert named Manny who loves the scriptures and asks a ton of questions. As he brought up questions and concerns, lots of scriptures and thoughts began to fill my mind. FILL MY MIND. I was able to share many inspired scriptures and thoughts THROUGH THE SPIRIT, that were able to touch his heart and answer his questions. He was in AWE as I shared these and called me an angel. He was amazed at my answers, BUT I was able to bear my sincere testimony to him that it was not me. It was not my answers. It was the Holy Ghost teaching him THROUGH me. Those were not my brilliant answers that I came up with on my own. I don't know his needs, his true deep concerns and worries, but His loving Heavenly Father does.

"The Spirit is the most important single element in this work. With the Spirit magnifying your call, you can do miracles for the Lord in the mission field. Without the Spirit, you will never succeed regardless of your talent and ability." Ezra Taft Benson

I have the sacred and BLESSED opportunity to help bring answers to one of His LOVED children. There is a promise found in the scriptures that is emphasized to us as missionaries:

"Neither take ye thought beforehand what ye shall say; buttreasure up in your minds continually the words of life, and it shall be given you in the very hour that portion that shall be meted unto every man."  D&C 84:85

   Don't worry about what you are going to say. If you read, study, and ponder the scriptures, you will know what to say. The Spirit will tell you what to say. I saw this beautiful promise come to pass today. I have been studying and pondering the scriptures more aggressively than I ever have before. I had heard this scripture 1,000 times, but it means so much more to me now that I have experienced it in my life!! This may seem silly to those of you who have served, kind of like DUH, but it was very powerful to me. I did my part, I read and studied HARD and prayed for the Spirit even harder, and I was able to witness this miracle. He called us angels. In a way, missionaries ARE angels.
   One last thing I would like to share that I learned this week. Helaman 15:3 says that the Lord chastens those that He loves. I always thought this was so interesting, so I studied into it a little bit more. The Lord chastens those He loves. This may seem a little backwards, but once you have truly experienced it, you can feel the truth of this message. The Lord wants us to return to live with Him again, in never-ending happiness and rest, because He loves us, of course He wants to be with us. The only way we can return to live with Him again is if we become like Him! We become like Him by going through trials. We grow and learn in hard times, which help us become more like the Savior. The Lord gives us trials and sorrows and weakness and tribulation so we can live with Him again! This is hard to remember in our trials or when we are being chastened, BUT I have experience this and have gained a small, simple, and ever-growing testimony of it. If we didnt have trials, we would never become like Him, never live with Him again, and never be happy.
   The Savior loves us. He loves all of us perfectly. I love Him. I can feel myself growing closer and closer to Him every single day. I know I say this every week and you probably don't believe me, BUT.... I AM SO HAPPY. The reason I am so happy is because my life as a missionary is CENTERED around the gospel of Jesus Christ, which makes me happy. I love being a missionary and am cherishing every single precious second I have.
   Thank you for keeping me in your prayers. Stay WARM! Tell your loved ones you love them, they can't hear it enough. Pray for charity. Thank Heavenly Father for everything you have, even your trials ;)
LOVE LOVE
Sister Brinton

Christmas lights are slowly getting out up!!

Love my name tag on my scriptures, going to keep it there forever :)

Me and Sister Housley MATCHING 

Sister Winters is leaving the VC :'(((

Me and Sarada matching (again)

Sister Frandsen, the Mission President's wife. She is THE BEST.

Struggle of a picture, this was after a Visitors' Center Training

My momma made this grateful tree and I hung it up in the Visitors Center so all the sisters
could add on. WE LOVE IT!

Temple....FINALLY

 HELLO everybody! :)
   I like shake when I type these emails home because I am so happy and I just want to write everything as fast as I can aaahhh!! Hi!!! I am so happy. I love everything. It has been raining here which is such a MIRACLE! I thought it was cold here until I heard it snowed in Idaho so I am grateful for the sunshine :)) SO....
   Last Monday, I went on exchanges for the first time! It was with the Sister Training Leaders and I got paired with Sister Martinez. Usually when it's your first transfer, you go the STL's area and they show you around and you are the junior companion. BUT the Lord wanted Sister Martinez to come to MY area!! I got to be the Senior companion and I had to drive (for the first time in 2 months...in California..so scary) and show her around and lead the lessons and everything!! It was a little intimidating at first, but I prayed and received strength and it went very well! They are there to help you and teach you, so I also prayed very hard for humility and to be teachable because it is hard to hear what you need to work on!!! It is VERY easy to be defensive or offended. But through the Lord, I was able to humble myself and even DESIRE criticism to change and BECOME BETTER! :)
   Every month, they have this AMAZING fireside called "Why I Believe." It takes place in the ISC building up on Temple Hill (where the temple and Visitors' Center, VC, are). It is where about 10-15 recent converts go up and tell their conversion stories and bear their testimonies! You are only allowed to go if you bring an investigator. We brought one of our investigators named Paradize! There are also musical numbers. It was SO beautiful. SO powerful. It is really good for our investigators to see the wide variety ( W I D E variety let me tell you) of people who have joined the church and their SIMPLE yet very powerful testimonies. I cant wait to bring 23948 people next time :) So beautiful. 
   SO about some of the people here in my life in SAN LEANDRO:
   Ann Helen is a beautiful mother with one son and she has a baptismal date for November 29! She is from Norway, speaks english very well and is extremely quiet and just as sweet. She is nervous and timid, but the Lord gives her strength :) 
   Roslyn is a beautiful single 45 year old African American who LOVES the scriptures. She is getting baptized on November 28th! 
   Paradize is the investigator we brought to Why I Believe. He is around 20 African American really chill guy haha. He has come to church every single Sunday since I got here! His grandma is a less active and we are teaching those two and his 9 year old cousin LaReese. They are doing really well and we are going to challenge them to baptism this week!! 
   John and Mary were a referral we received from our VC. He is a less-active and she is the kindest, most open-hearted woman I have ever met. We taught them the Restoration and she committed to baptism. The next day, we ran into them (not by accident, there are NO accidents) and she ran up to me and hugged me and goes, "WE GOT MARRIED!!" MIRACLE. This shows how the Lord is preparing these people's hearts. They knew they needed to get married for her to get baptized, so they went and got married the next day. They are some of the coolest people I have ever met. BUT they moved :(( To Idaho actually, so I am passing them on to my family!! YAY! JK but we are keeping in touch. 
   Lucia is a beautiful single Hispanic mom of two children. She met the missionaries where she worked (in someones home) and had been driving three hours to meet with them once a week. She finally couldn't make the commute and asked if she had missionaries that were closer and IT WAS US!!!! Now we are teaching her and are committing her to baptism this week!!!!!! 
   One thing that is really hard is our SACRED time at the VC cuts our time in our area in half, then on top of meetings and P-days and everything, we dont get to meet with these people or contact our referrals as much as we would like :( But we are doing our best! 
   Thank you for your prayers for us to be able to find the elect who are SO READY for the gospel. So ready, that it's almost like we don't even have to do anything but show them the way. It's like they already know it so we just have to show them the steps. We had a beautiful miracle this week. During one hour of our shift at the VC, we go on what is called outside tour, where we get to walk to the grounds and talk to people/admire the beauty OH MY I LOVE IT. I practically cry when we have to leave. But we felt prompted to talk to this lady, so we offered to take a picture for her (she was trying to take a selfie). This is a very effective tactic because then we are holding their cameras and they kind of have to stay and talk to us hahaha :)) Anyways, we started talking to her about her beliefs and everything. She is Christian. She completely opened up to us about her violent and troubled past. She told us that one night she told Jesus she couldn't do it any more and turned to Him. She said her life hasnt been the same since! We invited her into the Visitors' Center and you should have seen her light up. She just grabbed her chest and cried and kept saying, "oh my goodness, oh my goodness, wow, wow." The Spirit was so strong and she was there for HOURS. She told us that she knew God led her there and the gospel was perfect for her, just what she had been looking for. I had the sacred opportunity to bear my testimony that He had in fact led her here. HOW BEAUTIFUL that we get to be a part of these little miracles every day. One awesome thing about the VC is that we aren't the missionaries in her area, but we get to send the missionaries to her house AND keep in contact with her from the VC phone center. It's the best.
   I got to go to the TEMPLE today!!!!! I have been dreaming of going in the Oakland Temple since the day I got my call, April 28th. Every single day I walk the ground. Every single day I take pictures of this beautiful building. Every single day I bear my testimony to people of the House of the Lord. I seriously just stare and admire it from the Visitors' Center ALL DAY. And I FINALLY got to go inside!!!!!!!!!!!! It was so beautiful. The temple takes on a whole new level of power and the Spirit when you are set apart as a full time missionary. The Spirit was so strong and my heart was very full. The diamonds on the chandelier in the celestial room clink together because the AC blows on them, and it makes magical heavenly music. I love the temple. 
   I came across a beautiful concept that I would LOVE to share with you. I hope it makes sense :) There is a powerful talk called "Willing To Submit" by Elder Maxwell. It is all about us submitting our will to the Lord's. He says,

       "It is only by yielding to God that we can begin to realize His will for us. And if we truly trust God, why NOT yield to His loving omniscience?? After all, He knows us and our possibilities MUCH better than we do."

       Then I came across this statement in the Bible Dictionary about FAITH:

       "The Lord has revealed Himself and His perfect character, possessing in their fullness all the attributes of love, knowledge, justice, mercy, unchangeableness, power,and every other needful thing, so as to enable the mind of man to place confidence in Him without reservation."

   This parallel is SO beautiful. The Lord has revealed all of these qualities so we can EASILY trust in Him, without hesitation, so we can realize His will for us! Why wouldn't you want to give everything you have to a God who is FULL of love and patience and kindness and forgiveness?? He revealed all of these qualities so we can trust in Him, knowing He will take care of us! I want to yield to Him because He knows me SO much better than I know myself. I would not be here on a mission if it weren't for Him. I am so grateful for this beautiful and comforting knowledge that we have a Father in Heaven who LOVES us so much.

      "If we could daily remember and recognize the depth of that love our Heavenly Father and our Savior have for us, we would be willing to do anything to be back in their presence again, surrounded by their love eternally. What will it matter what we suffer here if, in the end, those trials are the VERY THINGS which qualify us for eternal life and exaltation in the kingdom of God with our Father and Savior."            -Sister Reeves

    I am so happy. I just can't get enough of anything. I am learning and growing more than I ever thought possible. My time here is so short and I wish time would just slow down!!!!!! I can't believe it has been a whole transfer....Time FLIES here. Can I just say how frustrating it is when one of your investigators FINALLY comes to Relief Society and you are expecting some INCREDIBLE lesson about the Atonement and changing your life around, and your lesson is literally on food storage. Sorry if that is rude but I mean SERIOUSLY. People are constantly bringing us cookies and treats at the VC, so I have narrowed my diet down to only 10 cookies a day.... The lights are going up on Temple Hill and Christmas is coming!!! I am so happy. I seriously go to sleep and wake up smiling. There is no where I would rather be. I LOVE it here, I love my call, I love the Visitors' Center. I love eating 35 bowls of cereal before bed every night. I love that my trainer Sister Harper is a living and breathing heater so she holds my hands and warms them up. I love being a missionary. I love reading the scriptures. I love bearing my testimony. I am so grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ that helps us become better each and every day, at our own pace!!! He will change our hearts. Every single day I realize how far I have to go.. I have SO MUCH to work on and change about myself, sometimes it if overwhelming how far I am from perfect BUT all things are possible through the Lord. I try not to let my weaknesses and faults weigh me down, but motivate me!!!! How beautiful is it when you are working on patience, the Lord places a situation in your life that requires patience, and you succeed!!!!  I am so grateful for the temple and I know that as we STRIVE to keep our covenants, we will be blessed with a multiplicity of blessings. I am so grateful for Prophets who are called of God. I know they are the Lord's mouthpiece here on the earth today. We would be lost without them! Prophets are a manifestation of God's love for us. 
   I am so grateful for all of your love and prayers. I couldn't do it without you. Eat some Chickfila for me someone...I'm dying.
FOREVER and back again,
Sister Brinton
     

after why I believe

Temple Day with my Zone

The cute girls in my zone...TEMPLE DAY

Nation's Burgers!

Me and Sarada with matching coats :))

LOVE OUR NEW COVERTS

Akshana, Sarada's baby...she is PRECIOUS

Akshana and Abby

Lunch with our ward mission leader!

Tanada, Tanaye, and Jasmine. We read bible stories to them!

Me and Sister Neves (Senior couple at VC) have matching necklaces!

Sister Winters! She is a VC sister...LOVE HER!

Exchanges with Sister Martinez

Sister Housley, also a VC sister. Love her too :))

Sarada & Abhikshana's Baptism

   Hello from the happiest sister missionary in all of the world. I love you. My heart is so full. SO full. This was a great week! We have two of the cutest new investigators (Lucia and Mary), three AMAZING progressing investigators (Ann-Helen, Roslyn, and Paradize) and now TWO RECENT CONVERTS (Sarada and Abhikshana)!  We don't really go knocking door to door because the VC cuts out proselyting time in half so when we aren't at the VC, we are usually contacting refferals, which is where all of our investigators have come from!  We had too much fun on Halloween. It rained last night and today, which is an ABSOLUTE miracle. California is in a huge drought, so we needed it! & I LOVE the rain. It reminded me of Virginia. I have zero complaints. We are doing so well here in San Leandro, the members feed us, the temple gets more and more beautiful every single day, I am so happy. I get to testify of Jesus Christ to people from ALL over the world (literally, I had to write it down: this week people came into the VC from Egypt, Sweden, Guatemala, Iceland, Israel, China, China, China, and Mexico!!!!!!) in a beautiful place where the Spirit is SO strong, what could I possibly complain about?

   So we received Sarada and Abhikshana's address the week I got here and have been teaching them ever since. Sarada is from Sri Lanka and is a BEAUTIFUL and strong mother of three precious children. She speaks little to no english, she speaks Tamil. She has the most faith I have ever seen. We just cry and cry together the whole lesson. She is going through a very rough time financially and in her marriage. Her and her daughter Abhikshana's baptismal date was set for November 1st and they made it! We combined their baptisms with two other companionships and there were 9 people baptized total!! The Assistants had two from Sri Lanka and the other Sisters had 5 from Tonga. It was my first baptism here on the mission and one of the most beautiful things I have ever been a part of. When I first saw them in their perfectly white baptismal clothes, glowing smiles and bright eyes, I was absolutely overcome with joy. Watching them enter the waters of baptism was one of the most powerful experiences I have ever had in my life. My heart was so full. I wept watching them giggle as they slowly stepped into the font. I wept watching them come up clean and pure. Then I had the beautiful opportunity to bear my testimony and introduce the Bible Videos which were going to play while we were waiting for all of them to get dressed.  It took me a while to FINALLY get some words out, but with tears I expressed that my heart was so full. I expressed that "this is the goal" and "There is no greater joy." I shared my testimony of the Savior and His perfect example that we should all strive to follow. It was a powerful moment for me and the Spirit was SO strong. The joy that you feel as you watch someone you have come to love so much enter into the waters of baptism is exactly how everyone described it to me -- UNDESCRIBABLE. so pure. The most rewarding, purest joy you can imagine. The joy that comes from bringing others to Christ. 

 I want to share this special experience I had this week. Part of weekly planning as a missionary involves praying for each son or daughter of God that we are involved with (investigators, new converts, and less actives) individually: their problems, concerns, trials, worries, families, jobs, progress, ask for specific blessings, and so forth. These prayers usually last about 35-45 minutes. Sister Harper always did it because I was still learning about everyone and getting to know them. It was finally my turn to pray for them!!  As I began to pray, I could hardly speak. I was absolutely overcome with LOVE for these people. I wept as I prayed for each of them individually and expressed my love and concern for them. It was a very, VERY powerful experience for me. I can't imagine how the Savior felt as He knelt in the garden, praying for each of US: our problems, concerns, trials, worries, sadnesses and sins and MORE. If I experienced so much love for MY people, imagine how much love the Savior had for each of us! This experience of turning outside myself and praying sincerely for these people with love, brought me closer to Christ and helped me become more like Him. I saw them with new eyes. I loved them as my own brothers and sisters. I wept for their trials and desired for their happiness. This kind of love is only possible through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. This kind of love is available to ME as a missionary as I strive with all of my heart, might, mind, and strength to represent the Savior. I am so grateful for this experience that brought me so much JOY and compassion and humility. 

  As I was studying this week, I came across this scripture: 


        "Therefore, blessed are they who humble themselves without being compelled to be humble; or rather, in other words, blessed is he that believeth in the word of God, and is baptized without stubbornness of heart, yea, without being brought to know the word, or even compelled to know, before they will believe." Alma 32:16

   I could not help but think of my sweetest Momma. She has the most believing heart, she is humble and believing and didn't have to be compelled to become such!! I did. I had to be compelled and learn for myself, MULTIPLE times. I am so grateful for my experience and wouldn't trade it for the world, but I look to her as an example of perfect faith. She has always just known in her heart that the gospel was true and that her Father in Heaven loved her and that we can receive answers through prayer. She taught this through example to me all my life. Her PURE and powerful faith in and love for the Savior strengthens me every single day. She just knew, from day one. I see that kind of purity among the people I am teaching. We aren't even teaching on missions, we are REMINDING. Everyone knows this! Everyone knows the gospel. We all chose Heavenly Father's plan, that's why we are here. We are just reminding people what we chose and why. I see it in their eyes when I tell them that they lived with God before they came to earth. It clicks in their mind and they light up BECAUSE ITS TRUE. Just like my Momma, they know its true with all of their believing heart. I love you Momma, you are truly my hero and best friend.

   I am so happy. I love being a missionary. I love the Book of Mormon. I love being able to bear my testimony of the Savior constantly. People literally come TO ME in the VC to find out more. They WANT to know what that big beautiful building is. Everyone calls it the "castle" haha. I get to go inside next week and I could not be more excited. As these DIVERSE and BEAUTIFUL children of God walk into the VC, they kind of pause and look around. They smile. Every time. The Spirit that is there is literally tangible. They feel at home. AHHH It's just the best. Come visit :) I love you. Thank you for all of your LOVE and MAIL and support and prayers especially. Have a WONDERFUL WEEK & Happy November. Write down in your journal one thing you are grateful for every day, then Heavenly Father will bless you with MORE, we can never repay Him :)

LOVE 

Happy Sister Brinton

John and Mary Miner

  

Abhikshana's baptism

She is 9!

Beautiful baptism day!!

Abhikshana and Sarada (mother and daughter)

Abhikshana's little brother, Midu

My momma sent me the recipe for her AMAZING 
peanut butter bars...I ate WAY too many :/

Movie night (AKA watching testaments after planning on a 1 by 1 inch dvd player
with the volume at level 1)

Happy halloween from the VC

Sister Fetzer

Me and Sister Nistler matching

Homemade Broccoli Cheddar Soup on halloween...
It looks so gross, but it was SO good.

Lions

The MARINA...im literally obsessed.

Love them. (Sister Housely, Harper, and Obando)