Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Some new pics!






November 29, 2016

So this week was alright. Kind of weird because of the holidays though. Thanksgiving was awesome, but I wish I had more pie haha. I discovered that I only live about a half mile from Apple HQ so that was pretty cool. It's barely outside of my area. I had my first interview with President Mella and that went well, he's super awesome. We've been starting to share this years Christmas message with everyone and its been going really well. Its called "Light the World" and its a really good video. You can go on LDS.org to watch it, and there is also a calendar for 25 days of service throughout December that you can do as a family. It's really awesome and you guys should do it if you can. It will definitely help you come closer to Christ and is a good thing to do this time of year. 

So my P-day (or half of one) yesterday was really good, we helped set up this thing they do each year at the church building in Palo Alto where they turn the whole building into nativity displays with different ones from a bunch of different cultures. I'll get to go to it when they open it up to the public. On the way there, there was a footlocker on the way so of course I stopped by and checked it out. I sat in there and talked to the guy about shoes for a few minutes and it reminded me of back home. Anybody who has ever been to Foot Locker with me would understand haha. It was this black guy, and I dont think that he expected this white guy in missionary attire to come in and start talking about Space Jam 11s LOL. So that was fun. Also on the way to the church we passed a McLaren dealership which was insane. I didn't even know they had those here. And when you drive around Mountain View during the day you pass by a bunch of the new Google self driving cars because they take them out for testing. Its kind of trippy LOL. Anyways, glad to hear everyone had a good thanksgiving. I miss you guys.

Love,
Brigham

Monday, November 21, 2016

November 21, 2016

I didn't take any pictures this week, but I'm glad you saw the ones from Zone Conference. I thought it was going to be long and boring because it went from like 10 to 5 but it was actually awesome! It was really uplifting and didn't even feel that long. I got the package you guys sent when I went there, thanks for the little stuff you got me, it made me happy haha. Apparently in December, we are having a meeting where 2 general authorities will be there. So I'm super pumped for that. I'm having Thanksgiving at a members house, so that will be good. We had our ward Thanksgiving party on Saturday, which was good. They had all good Thanksgiving food with sprinkles of Mexican stuff like chips and salsa too which was cool. This past week I did some very stereotypical Spanish Elder service and helped this one person we know hang up a bunch of pinatas in her store LOL. It was a little different than our usual services LOL. Usually, we do service from about 10:30-12:30 and do different things depending on the day. We go to this farm and do things there on Thursdays, we go to this soup kitchen and feed homeless like twice a week, and we do some other stuff along those lines like donation centers and stuff too here and there. As far as Christmas ideas go, the only big thing I would want would be a pair of shoes but I'm not sure how we would coordinate that LOL. Tell Hyrum to tell me about new releases and I'll think about things some more. You can send me a package with whatever little stocking stuffer things and I'm pretty sure you said you are already doing that.
Anyways, this week was pretty good, it went fast and zone conference was awesome too. The holiday season will be great and I look forward to that and the opportunities that come along with it. I love you guys and it sounds like things are going well. Have a good Thanksgiving!
Love,

Brigham

Monday, November 14, 2016

Letter from Brigham's Companion

Hello Brother and Sister Godwin

I just wanted to say thank you for raising such a great missionary! I'm Elder Cabral I've been called to serve as Elder Godwin's Trainer for at least the next 6 weeks, even though sometimes it feels like he is training me haha. I have had the great pleasure of serving with and getting to know Elder Godwin, he is a wonderful missionary with a burning testimony, he is always striving to learn and teach as much as possible and the Lord has definitely blessed him for his diligence. He has picked up the language extremely quickly. You have done a great job raising an amazing missionary, and I am lucky to be able to serve with him.

Elder Cabral
                                             The house Brig is living in
                                             His first trip to the grocery store
                                                Soccer hat
                                                         New Tshirt - his mission

November 14, 2016

So things here have been going well. The other day I went to Los Altos Hills which is a super nice area. I wondered how much some of the houses cost when I passed them. In the Spanish program, we get a bunch of good Mexican food, every family has one of those bowls with fresh tortillas in the middle of the kitchen table for each meal. Everyone in San Jose drives Teslas which are pretty nice cars. I see them as often as you see an F150 in Edmond lol. Not a ton of trucks out here though. Different cultures are funny. Our church building is really nice and half of it is basically outside. All the classrooms doors open up to this courtyard which is super cool. I'll try to get a picture of it this week. Also, at the end of church this lady in our ward (who I'm guessing owns a Panera or is a manager there) brings a bunch of the bread and stuff into the kitchen and every family takes home a couple things. So I copped a whole loaf of tomato basil, which I've been using for my sandwiches. I also ordered a shirt back at the MTC store that came to me this week. I'll send a picture of it. And I'll send one of my first shopping trip from last week haha.

It's really been a week of just getting adjusted, I've been doing training stuff and I'll be in training for 2 transfers. I've been trying to practice Spanish and this past week I went up during sacrament meeting to introduce myself and bear my testimony. It went pretty well. I have a lot of good members in my ward. I listened to a talk in the car while we were driving back from Los Altos Hills called "Profile of a Prophet" by Hugh B Brown and it was really powerful. One of my new favorites. Also, the member I'm staying with made Deseret News this past week and there is an article about him that I'll send you the link to. Anyways, I hope that everyone is doing well and I love hearing from you guys. 

Love, Brigham

Monday, November 7, 2016

Pictures from the MTC









November 7, 2016 - First Week in California

So the first week out here has been pretty cool. My mission president is awesome. My trainer is Elder Cabral. The first night I stayed with the APs in their apartment and then met my trainer the next day and moved in. We live with a member downstairs in his house and it's pretty nice. I took a few pictures but I forgot my cord to connect my camera to the computer so I can't send them. I get my Ipad after my first transfer which is 5 weeks from now. Once I get that, I'll be able to email and send pics/videos from there. Right now even to check my email I have to go to the church building to use a computer. Once I get my Ipad I'll be able to check it every night. It's awesome that the Cubs won tho, I was wondering who won and then I saw a guy in the street wearing full Cubs gear so that is how I knew LOL. 

So Spanish speaking Elders here get stake boundaries for their area instead of wards like the English Elders. The ward I attend is the El Camino Ward and everyone is really cool. It's a Spanish ward but like 75% are bilingual. I cover Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, and Mountain View. Santa Clara is where the 49ers play, I live in Sunnyvale which is mostly residential, and Mountain View is really cool. The day I went over to Mountain View, I passed Google HQ, a big Microsoft building, and a giant NASA testing center. It was pretty awesome and dad would have really liked it. There are a lot of apartments in my area and the rent here is really high so people work all the time. I went grocery shopping at Target earlier which was nice. The Target in Sunnyvale is weird, you park underneath it and there are escalators that go up. And there's an escalator just for carts. And they make you pay for bags when you check out LOL.  So there's that. 

Anyways, it's nice here and I like it so far. Send packages and letters to:

Elder Brigham Godwin
3975 McLaughlin Ave Ste A
San Jose CA 95121-2631
United States

It's the mission office. Which is separate from the mission home. Oh and the music guidelines just go by the white handbook. So you guys should send me the Minecraft soundtrack LOL. I can listen to that. Anyways, I love you guys and I miss you and will keep you updated on everything. And I'll send pictures next time. Love you guys!

Friday, November 4, 2016


Brig with his Mission President Mella and his wife



Elder Godwin and Elder Cabral his companion

Letter from the Mission President

Dear Family,
We are thrilled to report that Elder Godwin arrived safely in his mission day before yesterday here in San Jose, California.  We picked him up at the airport, and he was able to do some missionary work right away. He ate dinner at the mission home, and had an interview with me.  The next morning, after orientation at the mission office, all of the missionaries met their new companions and went back to their areas.  Elder Godwin will be serving with Elder Cabral in the Los Altos area.
You should expect to hear from your missionary on his next Preparation day, which will be Monday, November 7. Thank you for your prayers and support, and for sharing Elder Godwin with us here in the wonderful California San Jose Mission.
Also, I encourage you to join the "California San Jose Mission Moms" Facebook page, where we often post pictures and missionary updates.
With love,


Glen D. Mella
President, California San Jose Mission
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

November 1st - last thought from MTC

So I just got back from devotional and got to hear from Russell M Nelson. The Choir sang Praise to the Man which was his request and it was awesome. Can't think of a better way to close out my MTC experience than that. It was definitely a blessing that I got to stay an extra day here to go to that devotional. The primary thing that he talked about was becoming a living epistle of the Lord as we serve. It was amazing and I'll definitely remember that experience forever. 

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

November 1st - Last Day at the MTC!

Hello everyone, I get to send an email today because I leave early tomorrow which is usually my P-day and I also don't know when my P-day will be when I get there. So this will be my weekly email and my last email at the MTC. It was a good experience to be here, but I'm still really happy to get out of here LOL. I'm really excited to get to California and see what it's like there. I had in-field training this last week, which was long and drawn out and full of a lot of very basic, common sense things. I did learn a couple of things but the majority of it was rather boring to be honest LOL. I am the last remaining Elder in my district today and have been on exchanges with people in my zone all day. The thing that I will miss the most here are the friends that I've made. It was sad to say goodbye to people that I became close to while I was here and some of them will be lifelong friends. It doesn't seem like that long of a time to be able to develop those kinds of friendships, but just imagine being with a specific person or group of people for literally 24 hours every day for a month straight LOL. But, luckily I got along with everyone really well and things have been great.

Nothing too new has happened since this was my last week here, so I just want to briefly share my testimony with whoever may be reading this. Since I've been here in the MTC, I've had the opportunity to feel the spirit consistently. It's really an amazing thing. I want to bear my testimony that I know that this gospel is true and was restored to the earth by a true prophet and that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. Every time I read out of it, it uplifts me and helps me come closer to Christ. I personally love 3 Nephi 11 when Christ came to the Americas and Moroni 10 when Moroni bears his testimony and challenges us to find out the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon for ourselves. Every time I read those passages of scripture, I'm pretty sure that it's impossible to not feel the spirit. I know that this work that I'm doing will bring happiness to a lot of people who are searching for it. I know that the Atonement has been the greatest gift given to mankind throughout all of eternity. I know that our Savior lives and that he loves and cares about each of us unconditionally. I look forward to the opportunity that I have to share the gospel, and I say those things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

I love you all and also want to say thank you for all of the love and support that I've received. I hope that everyone is doing well and I look forward to hearing from you and knowing what's been going on back home. I'll be sure to tell you all about my first week in the field when I get the chance. I may get to send another email once I get there just to let everyone know, but I'm not sure how things will work out. So until then, I love you all and miss you guys.


- Elder Godwin