Why didn't you guys find me sooner?

Mele Kalikimaka !! It has been a while since I have written an email so it's going to be a struggle trying to sum it all up in a couple paragraphs. So much good has happened. God is so dang good. 

In my last email, I told y'all about a guy we found on facebook named Mark, from Jamaica. We have talked to him every day since and he is TOO COOL. We showed him the Book of Mormon videos and he watched them and said he knows the book is true. One day he asked, "why didnt you guys find me sooner?". Ahh, I wish everyone we met could feel that way! We asked him what he thought of Nephi in the video and he goes, "he's a pretty humble and cute dude". HAHA yes we love him (Mark and Nephi).

We actually started teaching two atheists that I found on facebook! It has been interesting because usually people in my mission already know and love God. One of them even came to church to get a book of mormon from us! And the other literally can't get enough of our church (but he won't admit it). He asks so many good questions and loves all the videos we send him and he even got super into family search this week after we talked about temples. It has been really cool to see their hearts soften. 

We saw the HUGEST miracle with Debby and Brad this week. They got laid off a couple months ago due to COVID. Debby has been really struggling to find a job. She was about to run out of money and all her savings. We invited her to fast on sunday and told her we would do it with her. We walked up to her after church and she was crying and said she needed to talk to us and the bishop immediately. She told us that she went to bed with like 5 bucks in her bank account and woke up with 2,300 dollars. Then she held up a tithing slip and a fat stack of cash that added up to 230$ and said the first thing she was gonna do is to pay her tithing. And shes not even a member yet! She is an inspiration!!! It was beautiful to see the hand of the Lord working in this faithful woman's life. 

On Christmas Eve we went out and delivered journals to some new move-ins in our ward that nobody has been able to get in contact with. A lady answered the door and asked if we were from the Mormon church. She said she had been baptized back in 2008 and expressed her desire to come back to church and she wants us to teach her 2 sons that are 8 and 9 years old. YAY. I know that God led us to her! 

Backstory - I LOVE puzzles. My mom and I do the same puzzle every year around christmas time and i was just missing that and craving a puzzle. So, a sweet old man from our ward brought us stockings to church as a christmas gift. I open mine and guess what it is - a puzzle! I texted them to say thank you and told them I had been wanting a puzzle! Then the wife said "I will tell my husband. He listens to the Spirit even when he's shopping. So he knew he needed a puzzle for somebody. And then he thought of you". It may seem small, but it was such a tender mercy and meant the world to me. I know Heavenly Father was aware of me. 

On Christmas Eve, a man from our ward called us and said that he was bring some food over for us. He showed up with a couple HUGE bags filled with groceries and homemade food. He told us a story about when he was a young missionary in France and how he had a really hard Christmas and pretty much starved. After that day, he swore he would never let the missionaries go hungry and has been feeding them every christmas since! It was so sweet. We were so spoiled by the members in our ward this Christmas! 

Wow, I could just keep going with the Christmas miracles I witnessed this year, but I want to talk about the biggest Christmas miracle of all - Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for the spirit I was able to feel during this Christmas season, constantly testifying to me of his reality. I know that Jesus Christ was born, that he lived for us, died for us, and lives once again. We were able to watch a devotional given by Elder Neil L. Anderson. He bore a powerful and sincere testimony of the Savior. He said, "Every time you speak his name, you speak the TRUTH". I felt the truth of that statement as well as the truth of the sweet babe born in Bethlehem. I bear testimony of the reality of Him - the Son of God, the Prince of Peace, our brother and friend. I know he lives and loves you. I love Him. I know I speak the truth! 

I love you! 
Sister Brinton