WEEK 1 - I'M A MISSIONARY!!!!
Hermana Bryleigh Geary here. :)
As of this Sunday, I am officially a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!!! I have been called to serve in Rancagua, Chile, and I'm so excited to welcome you all to my weekly emails! Each week, I will send out updates, pictures, and spiritual thoughts so you all can stay up to date on what I'm up to as I serve as a missionary in Chile! I know that there's a lot of you reading this that might be unfamiliar with my church and some of the things I'll be talking about, so please, ALWAYS feel free to message me with questions you have or things you want to know more about!
For this first email, I'd love to start out by turning our minds to Jesus. <3
Spiritual Thought:
My purpose as a missionary is to invite others to come unto Christ and help them know the steps they need to take to grow closer to Him. This purpose is the greatest responsibility I will ever have in my life! That's why, for the next 18 months, I am choosing to wholeheartedly serve my Savior full-time. I know what He's done for me, I know how much His gospel is worth, and I know that there is nothing of greater importance than the work I am doing RIGHT NOW.
This past Sunday, I spoke in our church service about why I decided to serve a mission. I would LOVE for you all to take a listen to the audio recording of my talk (attached in this email). As you listen, make note of any thoughts and feelings of peace, comfort, or inspiration. Those thoughts and feelings are from the Holy Spirit, and that is how God communicates truth to His children! You are all beloved children of a loving Heavenly Father. I know that as you seek Him, you will find Him.
Now, for an overview of my week! I have absolutely LOVED my first week as a missionary. Right now I am doing what is called Home MTC, which is basically just a bunch of online zoom classes in which I learn how to be a missionary! On November 5th, I will fly out to the Peru MTC to continue my missionary training in person, and then after a couple more weeks I'll fly to Chile! This week over zoom, I got to meet my district (a group of my fellow missionaries), my teaching companions, and teachers. Each day, we start out with discussions about the gospel of Jesus Christ and our missionary purpose, and in the evenings we attend Spanish classes to help us learn our mission language. It has been SO FUN! Here I included a little overview of each day. This first email is pretty long, but I just have so much to tell you all about!!! I'll try to keep my future emails shorter and easier for you to read haha!
Domingo - Jesus is REAL to me <3
~ I was set apart as a missionary today!!! It’s so crazy that I have this tag now. I am so honored to represent my Savior Jesus Christ for the next 18 months. WHAT. A. PRIVILEGE. What a responsibility, what joy!!!
~ Got to talk to all 3 of my Elders 
Elder Goeckeritz is still out, so we get to be missionaries at the same time for about 8 months!
~ Gave 2 farewell talks. One in the Yorktown ward, one in my YSA branch. It was a pretty powerful experience!
Lunes - Everything I’ve ever wanted
~ Felt the Spirit SUPER strongly. I can’t believe I get to do this every day for the next 18 months!!!
~ Big zoom call with 570+ missionaries from all around the world!
~ My companions are AMAZING! Their names are Hermana Ollis and Hermana Dominique. I already love them so much!
Hermana Dominique is so strong - her family is very against the church and said that they wouldn’t want to talk to her again if she went on a mission. And yet here she is, a set apart missionary, bearing testimony of Jesus Christ to us! What an inspiration!
~ My Spanish teacher said that my Spanish is really good! I guess I know more than I think I do.
Martes - Where He calls us, He goes with us
~ Accidentally announced that I had to pee to my zoom class (and it was being recorded too) 
~ I already know most of the stuff I’m learning (shoutout to all the VRMs who taught me how to be a missionary 
), so I’ve been trying to dig deeper to find something new. I like the challenge!
~ I am SO GRATEFUL for my knowledge of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. There is truly NOTHING more precious in all the world.
~ Comp study was SOOOO GOOOODDDDDD!!! We each shared a spiritual thought from personal study, and we had a tenderly sweet moment with the Spirit as we realized again that Jesus is there for us. I feel so much charity & love for my companions!
~ The gift of tongues is REAL!!!! I was so worried about Spanish, but God has just been helping me learn so much. Our language classes are solo español (we’re only supposed to speak spanish), and today my Maestra asked me to help her teach when her microphone wasn’t working. It was really cool!!! I have a long way to go, but I’m starting to feel more confident & natural speaking. And I am SO GRATEFUL for the preparation I did before my mission! Shoutout to the Newport News Hermanas for helping me! :)
~ Today one of my companions was feeling really overwhelmed and started shedding a few tears during class. I showed her a picture of Jesus Christ that I really like, and we talked about it for a bit. We both felt the Spirit and grew stronger testimony of His love for us. God does not lie to us, abandon us, or refuse to help us. He is our LOVING HEAVENLY FATHER! Where He calls us, He goes with us.
Miércoles - I trust Him, and He trusts me
~ Felt some more anxiety than usual today
~ My comps are genuinely just the best. I’m so excited to meet them in person!!!
~ Spent half of my personal study praying for peace and listening to hymns. I needed it.
I testify to you all that GOD. ANSWERS. OUR. PRAYERS. He always listens, He always answers, He always helps. If you ever feel like you need a friend to be there for you and to comfort you, say a sincere prayer from your heart, and I PROMISE that when you do, you will feel more peace and will feel more capable of doing hard things. You will feel God comforting you and giving you strength. He does it for me every day, and I know He will do it for you too, if you ask Him.
~ My district is getting the hang of Spanish! Slowly but surely, we are all learning. I love that everything we do in our training eventually wraps back around to Jesus Christ and our purpose as His missionaries.
Jueves - God takes care of His children
~ Soooo tired. Zoom classes all day is kind of intense 
~ I LOOOVVVEEEE studying the Gospel 24/7!!!
~ Learned so much about goal setting today and it helped me a lot in my personal and comp studies! Gracias a Hermano Lorenzo por enseñarnos!
~ I feel like I love my comps more and more each day. They are just so amazing!!!
~ I think me and my whole district have been able to experience the gift of tongues! It’s only been 4 days and we already know so much!
It’s crazy how comfortable I’m getting with Spanish. Today, while we were in class, our teacher put me in a breakout room with people who were struggling and told me to teach them But it was so good! I taught them Spanish & got to encourage them too. It was cool seeing them feel more confident and Spirit-led in their missionary abilities.
Viernes - Finding rest in Jesus Christ
~ Had some reallyyy good conversations with my companions and our Spanish teacher. I love that we all love our Savior so much!!!
~ Learning how to feel confident without being prideful. It’s a challenge but I'm growing, and that's all that matters!
~ REALLY good workshop about the gift of tongues today. I felt inspired to set bigger goals and take charge of my Spanish learning. I have a long way to go, but I’m dedicated to working for it!
~ I my hermanas SOOOOO much!!
~ Got to be at home with my fam today since they didn’t have work. I’m going to miss them so much! 
Sábado - Families are forever <3
~ Spent time with my family today! I love them so so so much!!!!
~ Got a haircut and went shopping for last minute mission things
~ Said goodbye to my BELOVED aunt & cousin. They have my whole heart. 
~ Packing up last minute things and prepping for when I leave on Wednesday
I know that was a lot of information that was just thrown at you haha! If there's ONE THING I want you to remember from anything I've shared, it's this: God loves you and is aware of you, and you can find peace in growing closer to Jesus Christ.
That's why I decided to serve a mission. Because God loves each of His children personally. Because Jesus Christ loved us enough to die for us. Because we have the opportunity to be bound to Him eternally.
I love you all! Message or email me with any questions, thoughts, or life updates!
Until next week,
Hermana Geary <3
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