"So...why does the Bible not mention dinosaurs?"

Hello everyone! TWO P-Days in one week...how wonderful! I am so grateful to be able to write to you all again today since so much has changed since I last wrote on Tuesday! Our district, Elders and Sisters have been separated as now us Sisters are in Visitor Center Training and the Elders are grouped with other missionaries who are waiting for their visas. I was so blessed to have the district that I do...seriously. We have all become absolute BEST FRIENDS. I truly feel of God's love for them and it is the most amazing and wonderful feeling in the world.

Sister Marsh and I putting hearts around SLC :)

I don't know if I wrote this but our Elders received their mission calls to Brisbane, Australia. However, Australia is really struggling with handing out visas so a TON of missionaries are being reassigned. Our Elders were supposed to leave on Sunday...and we're sad...but kinda still happy they're still here! Exciting news though...they all received their new assignments yesterday! Yay! So...if you live in any of these areas...be sure to seek out these Elders. They are amazing and will do SO much in preaching the Lord's work and bringing people closer to Christ.

Elder Christensen- Atlanta, Georgia...Elder Low- PROVO, UTAH...Elder Iereneo- San Diego, California...Elder Spencer- Las Vegas, Nevada...Elder Pinegar- San Antonio Texas...Elder Huntington- San Diego, California

They really will be amazing. We have all written letters to each other that we'll exchange on Sunday, I know we'll all be best friends forever :) I have learned so much from them, and it has been so cool to watch these 18 and 19 year old guys, guys that I see as my little brothers, just absolutely change and radiate with the light of Christ in their countenance. Even that has made being here so special for me :)

 

First things first...Tuesday night's devotional was AMAZING! Tad R. Callister, the presidency of the Seventy came and spoke about the gospel in a way I had never thought about before. He taught us that when building a home, you create a blue print, and that blue print will only fit EXACTLY one house, ever. It is specific and unique..window for window, door for door, landscape for landscape...no other house will fit as perfectly. The same is true for Christ's Church, and the blueprint for the church of Jesus Christ can be found in the New Testament. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints follows this blue print exactly with everything! Organization (Acts 1:22,25), teachings (Luke 24:39, 1 Peter 4:6, 2 Cor 12:2, 1 Cor 11:11), ordinances (Mark 10:16, John 3:5, Acts 8:17), fruits of the church (1 Cor 3:16) and even having a link to heaven (Acts 1:2). Something that really struck me though is this...so many people struggle with believing that Joseph Smith really saw God the Father and Jesus Christ, that angels appeared to him. Why would our dispensation be any different than the time of Christ? God loves ALL of his children, and always will throughout time. Angels appeared to people in visions back in the time of Christ...think of Mary, Joseph, Peter, James and John. THIS CHURCH IS TRUE and JOSEPH SMITH IS A PROPHET OF GOD. I testify of that and I know that if you ask God to make this known to you, you will come to know it as well. Think of how this gospel could bless your life. No matter who you are, what you're going through, this gospel has the peace you need and the answers you are searching for, I PROMISE you.

I love my companion Sister Marsh :)

 

After the devotional was incredible. As companionships, our Branch President had us go around the room and in front of everyone tell our companion what we believe their most Christ-like attribute is. If you want to feel the spirit, try this out. We were all made in God's likeness and image and as such, we all have these attributes, they just haven't been fully developed yet. Turn outward as the Savior does :)

Wednesday we drove up to TEMPLE SQUARE! Yep...I drove past BYU, past Yogurtland, past Young Living Oils where my best friend Roberto works and off to Salt Lake City. It was so crazy to be up there.

Me and some of the crazy cool foreign sisters...most of them serving at Temple Square too!

 

I know that I was called of a prophet of God and that the Utah Salt Lake City Temple Square Mission is exactly where I am supposed to be! We go back tomorrow to actually be on splits with the sisters...which means I will be at Temple Square with a sister serving there, giving tours as her companion. I almost said I'll be up there acting as a real missionary...but then I realized I am a real missionary...AH! So cool :)

 Sister Marsh and I excited to start Visitor Center Training!

Ohhhh Bryan...my brother who I love so much! Did you know they're building a visitor's center in Sao Paulo? I thought you might be excited about that :) I have such a strong testimony of Visitor Centers already. We are living the dream of Alma in The Book of Mormon in Alma 29:1 when he wishes to declare the gospel with a trump to all the earth! Visitor Centers receive people from all around the world who have been prepared of God. I love that! And guess who shared that with me...only one of my besties ever...Sister Alyssa Lamprecht! Yep, she's my teacher here! She is one of the reasons I first started thinking about serving a mission and she even served on Temple Square! I am so lucky and SO BLESSED to have her as one of my teachers for Visitor Center training, I just adore her :)

Finally got a picture with my buddy Garrett from the PR program!

We got our first experience with doing Mormon.org chats that night and we talked to some quite interesting and lovely people. It's amazing that even though I can't see them, I can still feel the spirit so strongly as we chat. Sister Marsh and I chatted with a woman from California who was asking a LOT of questions about the Word of Wisdom, about our beliefs in God and finally even asked. "So...why does the Bible not mention dinosaurs?" Good thing we were on chat because I just smiled...you all know how much I love my dinos! It's great being on chat because when we get questions like that, we can pause, think about it, talk with our sisters and decide how best to answer to bring everything back to the doctrine of Christ which is faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and Enduring to the End. The next morning (Thursday) Sister Marsh and I got to chat with a man named David from the Philippines. He simply asked us to bear our testimonies to him...we were so excited! He then said, "Thank you so much. I too know that this church is true and that Jesus Christ lives. I am being baptized on Saturday. Pray for me :)" I loved that. That got my morning off to such a wonderful start. I am so excited for him to take this first step. I still remember my baptism so clearly. I remember being baptized and then asking if I could do it again :) The spirit is so strong, and it then becomes our constant companion as we strive to live worthy of it. I love the Holy Ghost. He always does his job of teaching and prompting if we just listen and are worthy :)

The rest of the day was wonderful! We did a lot of role playing to practice how to invite others to come unto Christ in just a short visit. My goal as a missionary at Temple Square is to make sure that everyone I meet with or talk to feels uplifted when they leave. I want everyone in this world smiling...there is so much to be happy about! Sister Marsh and I had the amazing experience of role playing with two adorable sisters that are from Guatemala and Taiwan that will also be serving on Temple Square. Even though their English was broken, and much was hard the understand, the spirit was the ultimate teacher. Sister Marsh and I both cried as we were taught by these beautiful and wonderful sisters who were trying so hard to learn a language. My testimony was definitely strengthened. That night Sister Marsh and I got to do TRC with a girl who goes to BYU and her name is ASHLEY! I hope she's reading this because I told her I would give her a shout out! She will be submitting her papers soon and I just got so excited for her! She absolutely has the light of Christ in her countenance and will do so much good :)

All of the Sistahs of 67-A in our matching swag shirts...Thank you Brother Samuels!

 

And that brings us to today! Sister Samuel's dad sent us all matching T-Shirts from his Credit Union that say, "Born to Lend." So, of course we had to all wear them and match today! haha I LOVe these sisters and will miss them each so much as they leave Wednesday morning for Omaha, Nebraska.

Me and the lovely Sister Samuels...her dad is the one who sent us those AWESOME t shirts

 Later today we get to go to the temple again so I am so excited! I always feel so refreshed and uplifted when I go.

I Love Sister Rogers!

 

Also- EVERYONE..watch the Mormon Message, "Mountains to Climb." It is absolutely amazing. We watched it yesterday and I just cried. I love when Henry B. Eyring says, "If the power of faith is not embedded in our hearts, the power to endure will crumble." A testimony and knowledge of this gospel all begins with faith. It is through acting on that little faith we have, letting it grow, that ultimately gets us to endure to the end. Through faith we take those actions of repentance and baptism that truly show God we believe He is there and that this is Christ's church. I know it is :)

I am so lucky to be a missionary. I already never ever want to leave. On Wednesday I will become an official Temple Square sister! Okay, if any of you reading this are worthy, and are considering a mission...GO! This has already been the best experience of my entire life! Thank you everyone SO much for your support! We've been asked to tell you to write our new address starting Tuesday as we will not get mail that comes to the MTC!

Ohhh gotta love the awkward missionary poses...with Bennett!

I love and miss you all so much! You are in my prayers! Grandma Donakey- hang in there, we're all thinking of you :)

Love Always,

Sister Briggs :)

Shout outs to Robert Donakey, Casey and Bryan Briggs, Grandma Jeanie, Remy, Brother and Sister Donakey, Britt Lam and Kate Crump...thank you so much for writing!

Shout outs to Wil Ramsey who I now see everywhere, Eric Turner, Alyssa Lamprecht, Garrett Pierce, Caitlyn Fischetti, Bennett Forbes and Jake Mitchell...all who I saw this week!

Shoutout to my London ladies! We got some delicious digestives (chocolate cookies) from Sister Rodgers family!