Sept 18, 2017 ~ TWO ROADS DIVERGED IN A WOOD, AND I TOOK THE ONE LESS TRAVELED (Week 10)

Hello all! 

This week was pretty darn awesome! I love it here in California. The people are so kind and giving, and my companion and I get along great! We are working hard but also enjoying every minute. :)

This week we had exchanges for a day. I got to go with the Sister from the Temple Square Mission again, whom I absolutely adore. We are the exact same person, pretty much. She would say something like, "Let me guess, you love peanut butter," and I would say "YES" and she would say, "I know. Because I do too and we are the same person."  And that conversation continued for like 30 minutes. Haha. We also get each others' sense of humor so it was awesome. When she goes back to Temple Square to finish her mission, please please PLEASE go visit her! EVERYONE! (Get her name from my mom). She is absolutely amazing and would love to see my friends and family. I love you all, so I know she will too because we are practically the same person. 

We had two branch parties this week. We celebrated Independence Day for Mexico on Friday, and it was awesome. We had lots of yummy food and performances. They made the missionaries dance, so I included a picture of everyone in their costumes. BBBUUTTT, If you look closely, you'll notice that I'm not wearing one. (heehee) That's because I had already been asked to speak in church for the coming Sunday, and I talked my way out of dancing because of it. Overall, the party was awesome and we had a lot of fun! 

Saturday we celebrated a quinceañera for a girl in our branch named Ana. She looked beautiful! I had no idea how formal these parties are, but people came dressed up in suits and tuxes. Also, everyone was supposed to wear purple, which was the color of her dress. It was beautiful! The Latin people sure know how to party!!

Buuuttt … because of the two parties, the attendance at church was sparse … which was a real bummer! Only about 20 people were there! Which was bittersweet. Bitter as a missionary because we want people to come to church!! But sweet as a speaker who hardly knows Spanish in a Spanish branch. :)

This week I read a talk by Gordon B Hinckley titled “Seek Ye the Kingdom of God”. 

He recited the poem by Robert Frost that says:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-

took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference. 

President Hinckley talked about how much his life has been blessed by choosing to walk the path the Gospel of Jesus Christ has to offer. Though it wasn't always the most popular path, it was straight and narrow and the most rewarding. He stated that through his many years in life, every blessing he had ever received was a product of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He said, “As I look back upon my life, I do so with a measure of wonder and awe. Everything good that has happened … I owe to my activity in the Church.”

I began to think to myself if I could say the same... 

Has taking the road less traveled by truly made all the difference thus far in my life? Is walking on this road currently making all the difference in my life? If I continue to walk down this road, will it make all the difference for my future? I felt so humbled as I knew that I could answer, YES, though it took me a long 20 years to finally realize it. 

Occasionally, we may choose to walk the path that is a bit more trodden ...

There are times when we can't see what lies ahead while we are on this path-- the roads are too windy.

There are times when we can't help but trip and fall while on this path-- the trail is too rocky. 

And there are times when we can't help but feel tired on this path-- the hills are just too steep 🏔.

I believe now is the time to walk on the simple and straight path of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

It is not filled with deceiving turns or rocky bumps. 

It is not hilly or exhausting (OK, sometimes it can be exhausting 😏).

And though it is not very trodden, the way is well prepared for us. 

It might not be easy to get onto the path less traveled by. It might consist of having to scale a few boulders or walk on some rough terrain; there may be trees and weeds and scary things throughout the median. But I promise that there will be no more rewarding sight, than that moment when you leave the path more trodden and cross over the median to the path of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The straight path is always there to be walked on when we are ready for it. 

Alma 37 in the Book of Mormon tells about Lehi and his family, while traveling in the wilderness…

42) Therefore, they tarried in the wilderness, or did not travel a direct course, and were afflicted with hunger and thirst, because of their transgressions. 

43) For as our fathers were slothful to give heed to this compass (now these things were temporal), they did not prosper; even so it is with things which are spiritual.
44) For behold, it is easy to give heed to the word of Christ, which will point to you a straight course to eternal bliss, as it was for our fathers to give heed to this compass, which would point unto them a straight course to the promised land.
45) For just as surely as this director did bring our fathers, by following its course, to the promised land, shall the words of Christ, if we follow their course, carry us beyond this vale of sorrow into a far better land of promise. 

46).... The way is prepared, and if we will [walk] we may live forever.

I love this thought by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, "Don't you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead- a lot of it. You keep your chin up. It will be all right in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come." (General Conference Oct 1999, “An High Priest of Good Things to Come”)

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-

took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

 

I love you all so much!!! 

Love, 
Hermana Brooks 💙

Today was Sisters P-Day and I gotta see Hermana Ferrin again. I love her.

Sisters P-Day - Back Row, 6th from Right

My companion put these stickers everywhere around our apartment because she and I are both gluten free and the other sisters aren't. I laughed so hard. Clever!