I need to go and talk with Dad

Sister Taylor and I in the tabernacle :)

Hi everyone! Just one more week until Christmas! I hope everyone is making an extra effort to include Christ at this time...it is in fact His birth that we celebrate at this time and I am so grateful to be His representative.  I testify to each of you that He does live.

I love this mission :) We got to take an organ tour, to go back stage to see just how all these beautiful instruments work, and I even got to play it! 

This was another amazing week of being a missionary at Temple Square.  Each day I saw so many miracles, each day I saw the amazing grace of God's hand working and weaving throughout my life and the lives of so many others. Many who have come to see the lights at Temple Square this week have taken notice of what a special and miraculous place it is.  I have heard many comments from people saying, "I wish I could just live here on Temple Square," or "I wish I could just stick Temple Square in my pocket and take it home."  What I wish for each and every person to know is that the reason that we love Temple Square so much is because it is a familiar feeling to what we have always known all along--it is the spirit of God that is so abundant at Temple Square that keeps people coming back.  This spirit can be with us everywhere we go, we just have to learn to recognize it :)


Sister Godfrey had us all over for dinner and made SEVEN different desserts..I am so grateful for everything her and her family did for us and wish them the very best Christmas!

Linda and Chuck were two people we met at Temple Square just last night who had learned to recognize the voice of the Lord in their own lives.  Linda and Chuck are from Texas and have been converts to the church for just over 1 year.  Linda laughed when she recounted the story of the persistent missionaries that would always come and knock on her door.  Chuck said the first time he let the missionaries in, he was searching around his home for his shot gun while the missionaries talked in the door way outside. When Chuck and Linda finally agreed to meet with the missionaries, they said they felt a difference right from the beginning, but they continued to attribute it to something else.  They would say, "oh, this warm feeling we feel is just the love we feel for these two Elders and the love they feel for us," or "this feeling is just coming because we are doing a service to them by listening to their message."  They continued to attribute the voice of God, the Holy Ghost to something they thought they were more familiar with. As they met with the missionaries, they said that everything they heard started to sound more familiar, and it was then, they realized they were familiar with God.

This is something that we each do so very often. We think we aren't familiar with God, that we don't have a relationship with Him, and so we say that what we feel, what we hear is something else.

I love having my amazing trainer, Sister Lin, back at Temple Square.  I can't believe this is her last transfer!

I was reading in the Old Testament in 1 Samuel 3 about the time Samuel was called of the Lord to do His work. In this account, we read that Samuel heard his name being called 3 times, each time thinking it was his Dad.  He would probably think, "Okay, I need to go and talk with Dad." Each time we went down the hall to the room of his father to say, "Here am I, for thou didst call me," and his Father would reply, "I called not, my son; lie down again." The third time Samuel heard someone calling his voice, he approached his father once more, only this time, his father recognized it was the voice of the Lord and instructed his son to respond as it was God calling him.



I was amazed as I read this account and thought about Chuck and Linda.  So often we hear a voice calling to us, a familiar voice, a comforting voice, yet we attribute it to something else.  Really, we are all so familiar with God, that we could easily mistake His voice with the voice of our own Father; for He is indeed, the Father of our spirits.

So often our mind tries to trick us, to make us think this familiar voice is something else.  When we had our mission tour just this last week, Elder Clark told us that while he was in Bolivia a woman stopped him and said, "You Americans, I could never live in your country. "  He was completely taken back and asked the woman why she felt that way so strongly.  She responded, "There you live with your minds, here we live with our hearts."


To the Briggs Family---the huskies are everywhere! This is Kate, she is the daughter of the family who had us all over for dinner this week :)

Let us all live with our hearts and recognize the God that calls out to each and every one of us each day.  He calls to us not just as a collective group but as individuals, as His precious children.  I know that I am His daughter, and when He calls my name, I know it.  He is my Father, your Father and He can pick each of us out of a crowd.  I wonder...can we pick Him out of a crowd?  Look for Him this Christmas, think and feel with your hearts, and you will find Him.

Love Always,
Sister Briggs



 This was actually taken the day after Thanksgiving when they had the lighting for Temple Square. Ed and I didn't get to see her, but Barry, Becca, and Mary did. This was the first time Barry has been able to see her there - Thanks to Jean Donakey for forwarding this picture.  We are always happy to add Kelsey Sightings to our Blog. 

SHOUTOUTS: Got to see Brother Cecil Samuelson at Target...that was amazing! My wonderful Briggs family, Robert Donakey, Brother & Sister Donakey, Mary, Becca, Barry and Sara Donakey, Zach Hansen, Karsen Yack, Sister Hill and Sister Rushing, Kurt & Megan Mooney, Jay & Taylor Winters, Matt Duke, Amy Briggs, Sister Blauer and the AMAZING Thomas family (thank you so much for your beautiful Christmas card! It really absolutely made my day!)


We got to have dinner with a family, and they had the cutest dog named Sammy! Joy really is in the little things :)

Transfer 4: "Even our Seconds Show our Stewardship"

Hey again everyone! Two P-days in a row, swell deal huh? (For those who don't know a P-Day is a Preparation Day or Personal Day - It is our day to do personal things, go to the grocery store, write letters, run errands, move in with our new companion, etc.)  I only have a few minutes to e-mail as it has been crazy with transfers and all.  I realized that I wrote yesterday that we had all heard about our new companions and assignments, but that I didn't share with you mine!

I feel very blessed and lucky to be called to serve as a trainer this transfer.  I am very humbled by this opportunity and know that we really will be training each other.  I like to think of Alma 12:1, where we can read that Alma supported his companion Amulek in everything.  Think of the most amazing companionship of all time- that of God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost.  They are all one in purpose, one in heart, mind, might and strength.  If we are to help fulfill God's purpose here on earth, "to bring about the immortality and eternal life of man," we too must be unified and supportive of each other in all things :)

The theme I want to have for this transfer is, "Even our Seconds Show our Stewardship."  I know that so many blessing come from truly consecrating ourselves to the Lord and in so many different forms. I know and testify that Jesus Christ was a steward of His time before coming to this earth as He prepared for His role here, to be the Savior of the world, and my new companion and I want to represent Him to the very best of our ability. I know that this is not our time, but it is the Lord's time.  I can't imagine anything more beautiful and powerful than spending our time the way He does.

I want to introduce my new amazing, wonderful, beautiful and delightful companion to everyone! Her name is Sister Taylor and she is from Rancho Cucamonga and she really is splendid in every sense of the word. 

Sister Taylor and I :)

 

It was actually a bit of a funny story how we first came together- The AP's were calling off the new sisters from the MTC and then saying, "And you're companion is.....Sister _____!" And then of course we'd all clap for joy :) I was sitting there with Sister Siegle (who is also training, ah how I love her) when Sister Centeno tapped on my shoulder from behind and said, "Sister Briggs...this one's yours!"  I just started laughing and was joking with her and then she kept pointing up, I looked around and saw everyone was looking at me...she really was my new companion! Sister Centeno called it :)  We already are having so much fun together and I can't wait to get to know her better and to learn from her.
 

My New Planner

 

I just want to testify to you all that I know this gospel is truly the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ in the Sacred Grove.  I know that as missionaries, the work isn't better because we are here, but we are better because of the work.

I love you all and I'll see you soon!

Love Always,
Sister Briggs

SHOUTOUTS: Thank you for the letter Sister Dimatera and Robert Donakey! :)

Pictures.....decorated a gigantic pumpkin cookie with the roommates on our last night together thanks to Sister Siegle's wonderful sister!