I know that this church is true and that it has been restored by a prophet of God through the power and authority of Jesus Christ. I know that if we need help to gain knowledge or understanding we need to pray with faith and diligence. I know that God hears our prayers and I testify that he answers us if we listen with the ears of faith. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and it is a tool for us in this life to be able to follow the example of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that this book holds the power of  truth and wisdom from God. I know that He loves us because I can feel it through the words he speaks to us in the Book of Mormon. I know Christ lives and His atonement is to help us in every moment. It is to help lift us up when we are down, to help us receive forgiveness, to give forgiveness and to help us become like Him. I know that priesthood power is the key to help live with God again. It is real and a blessing. I am so grateful for this power in my life. I am so grateful for this gospel and I am so grateful for this mission. I have learned so much and have grown so much closer to my Savior than I ever have before. I have experienced a lot of things that have helped me get to the point were I am today. I have come to know who my Savior is and understand a little bit more the love He has for me and the people here in this world; specifically for the people who are here in Peru. I love this country, these people, and am so grateful for this time I have had to be a Peruvian. It has been such a great blessing to me that I wouldn't change for the world. It is something life changing. Thank you to everyone who has helped me along the way. I love this church. I love our Savior, Jesus Christ. I know the plan He has for us is a plan full of love, trials, happiness, hardship, and blessings. I know that every step of the way is worth it and that He is walking with us. This church is true. Christ lives. In the name of Jesus  Christ, amen.

This General Conference I was able to learn a lot about the importance of faithfully following the prophet and recognizing that when he speaks it should be taken as if Jesus himself was in front of us speaking those words. He is called of God to help lead us and guide us in this time of our lives. I learned a lot about the importance of centering our lives around Christ in doing the small and simple things constantly and diligently, to always be worthy and ready to receive and act upon the guidance and teachings that come from God through the Holy Ghost. With every small and simple act of obedience and love that we do will help us grow closer to Christ and he will bless us for these acts. But to really have these small and simple things make a difference in our lives we need to do them constantly and diligently so that we will always have his spirit to be with us. This spirit will also help us complete our duty of serving his children here on the earth. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we have the responsibility to stretch our hands out to those around us and share with them the invitation of Christ which is come unto Him. In 2 Nephi 25:26 we read, “We talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.” We can have the guidance that we need to have as members. We talk of Christ always and preach of Him in our word and examples. We rejoice in the love and grace he gives us and in the fact that we can always repent and work to live with him after this life. We should always invite people to have the blessings that we have from Christ by inviting them to His house on Sundays. We write of him in our words and actions on social media to help all have a chance to receive Him. If we do this we can work to be true disciples of Christ as we work to have his attributes in our lives and as we work to become like Him we will grow closer to Him. I know that as we repent we become humble and we can become more and more sensitive to His spirit when we receive forgiveness that He is always ready to give, but that we also need to be like Christ and forgive others to also gain the pure love of Christ and work to become his true disciples and love and serve all. I know that this church is true and that all that we heard over General Conference was revelation from our Heavenly Father. I am so thankful for this weekend and all that we were able to learn and the spirit we were able to feel. I want to share this with all of you in the name of Jesús Christ, amen. 

1) And now, these are the words of Ammon to his brethren, which say thus: My brothers and my brethren, behold I say unto you, how great reason have we to rejoice; for could we have supposed when we started from the land of Zarahemla that God would have granted unto us such great blessings?

2 ) And now, I ask, what great blessings has he bestowed upon us? Can ye tell?

3) Behold, I answer for you; for our brethren, the Lamanites, were in darkness, yea, even in the darkest abyss, but behold, how many of them are brought to behold the marvelous light of God! And this is the blessing which hath been bestowed upon us, that we have been made instruments in the hands of God to bring about this great work.

The joy of being used as an instrument in the hands of God is something so wonderful. We were able to help this family come unto Christ and we were able to see the light of Christ truly make a big difference  in their lives. It all started two years ago when elders went to visit them, but at that time they weren't married. Now two years later on March 2 they got married and then on March 3 they all got baptized and were able to make the changes they needed to with the guidance of Jesus Christ and His spirit in their home. They are now a lot closer as a family and all of them are a lot different but in a way that is so so good. I love this family and to hear each of them bear their testimonies and love for the gospel after seeing them get baptized is something that I will never forget. I know that this church is true and I know that the only thing that this world needs is Christ and His perfect love. I know that we all need a little bit more light in our lives and I promise that it will come from Jesus Christ, reading the Book of Mormon, sincerely praying and participating in the sacrament every Sunday. He is our Savior and he wants to save us, and he does… I have seen it! I am so grateful for my mission and all the lives I have been able to see Christ change and it is something that I would never change. I love you all and hope that you are all doing good and loving life! Thank you for all your prayers and love!! Have a great week.

Hermana Brasher

2 Nephi 3:24 “And there shall rise up one mighty among them, who shall do much good, both in word and in deed, being an instrument in the hands of God, with exceeding faith, to work mighty wonders, and do that thing which is great in the sight of God, unto the bringing to pass much restoration unto the house of Israel, and unto the seed of thy brethren.”  I am so grateful for this scripture and really we can apply it to each and every one of us… that God put us here to lift us up and make us powerful to do what it is that He needs to do. Here in the mission I have been able to see the truth of this a little more clearly. We need to trust in His knowledge, His guidance, and His love for each and every one of us. I know that each of us has something important to do here on earth and in this life; to work miracles and help people come unto Him and feel this love. Along with that, He chooses us to do His work knowing our weaknesses but with the intent to make them our strengths. (1 Nephi 20:10) I know we experience what we do to become who He needs us to be and to do what he needs us to do. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to work for the Lord, working to become purified in this life to enjoy the love and peace after. We are sent here to be lifted up and work mighty works among those we love and with those that are in our life. I know that this church is true and that God is our loving Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ is our Savior waiting for us to invite Him into our lives and let him lift us up and purify our faults. I love this gospel and I know the Book of Mormon is true and that it can really bring a love and joy into our lives. I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week! 

January 8, 2018

My studies this week have really helped open my eyes as to what the significance is of reconciling ourselves unto God. One verse that really helped me was James 4:7, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” For me to reconcile myself unto  Christ and my Heavenly Father is to really become a team with them. To make my wants, wishes, and desires the same as those that they have for me. Also, to really repent for what I need to do, but it is a little bit more then just repentance, it is to really give yourself to God in the repentance process. All of this is possible thanks to one person, our Savior. Which brings us to the first thing that we all need to do and it is to build our relationship with Christ. Helaman 5:12 teaches us to make Him our foundation, not to work against Him but to work with Him,  to humbly use the power of the atonement of Christ in our lives and to become one with Him, to reconcile our hearts unto Him and join the team! It is something that I have started but I am nowhere near to ending. I know that Jesus is our Savior and that our salvation is all possible thanks to Him if we follow his example and do what we all know we need to be doing. I love Him and am so grateful for the opportunity to be living my life working on reconciling myself to Him. I am grateful to be on the team with my Father in Heaven and my Savior, Jesus Christ. I have the confidence that they will help guide my way and teach me what I need to do. I love you all and hope that all is well in your homes and families I hope you have been able to start you year 2018 with laughs, hugs, and motivation to do what it is you need to do! Have a great week and know I love you all!

Hermana Brasher

Luke 9: 23-24

23¶And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 

24For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. 

What I love about this little section of scripture is it says that we need to take up His cross DAILY and follow Him. It isn’t an every once in a while thing,  it is waking up every day ready to do the will of our Savior and to wear His name on our hearts, ready to be disciples of Him and serve Him with the love and gratitude that we have for all that He has done. One of the things we can do is serve all the people that we have in our lives and He has instructed us to serve Him and feed His sheep IF we love Him, as we learn in John 21:15-17. Do you love your Savior? How are you feeding His sheep? There are so many blessing promised to those disciples of Christ but because of this it isn't easy, it’s hard and we need a few of those attributes of Christ to help us do it the way He would. In Alma 7:23 we are given the keys as to what it is that we need.  23) And now I would that ye should be humble, and be submissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive. I love this verse, it teaches us about the Christ-like attributes that we need to develop to be His disciple, to serve Him and be an example to those that we have in our lives. This week I was able to learn about patience, a lesson I am grateful to have. We had a hard week and I was a little discouraged with the lack of help that I was given throughout the week and I had a day where I was ready to be done and did not want to get to work and then the spirit taught me that I need to become more humble and find more patience in my heart for my Savior and his promises but also for his children. To be humble, patient, and diligent isn’t easy, but it is worth it because we can feel a pure joy from our Father in Heaven when the blessings do come. I am so grateful for the spirit in my life and all that he does to teach and guide me. I am thankful for the scriptures and all that I am able to learn from them to help better myself as a disciple of God. I love you all and hope that all of you have a great week and have a chance to notice the hand of the Lord in your life.

In 1 Nephi 20:10 it says, "For Behold, I have refined thee. I have chosen the in the furnace of affliction."  When I read this verse it really spoke to me in the way that I have been chosen to be here at this time with these people and these hardships and to be refined by my Heavenly Father. He knows exactly what afflictions I need to have to learn and to grow and to become the person that I want to be and also the person that He needs me to be. I know that it is not just this way for me but for all of us. We are chosen for this time, these people we have in our lives, and the difficulties that we have in our paths to learn and to grow closer to our Savior. In the talk by Elder Stanely E. Ellis he spoke about the importance of trust, and the trust that we put in our Father in Heaven and the fact that He is with us every step of the way. He taught us how the difficult times in this life are good if we react to the them in a positive way and fall back on the trust we have in our Heavenly Father to help us push forward and learn all it is that we need to to reach his presence after this life here on the earth. It is the difficult times that change us because when we struggle we learn better, especially when we include Jesus Christ in our struggles and learn how to apply his atonement into our lives. I know all of this is true. I know that we grow from the afflictions that we are given and I know that in these afflictions and hardships Christ is refining us, making us perfect, teaching us things, changing us, so that we can become like Him and be able to reach his presence after we endure all that we need to in this life. I am so thankful for the conference weekend that we had and I am so thankful for the things that I learned and the spirit that I felt. It was something that I truly needed in my life at this moment. This is our time now! We were chosen for this time, to change us, to change others, and to all be able to grow together and closer to Christ. It is our time to be refined by our Savior. He chose us for now. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Hermana Brasher