Nov. 20, 2017 ~ THEIR SOULS ARE PRECIOUS (Week 19)

Alright, MORE updates for the masses! 

1. I cut off 13 inches of my hair and donated it to Charity. 👐

2. I got transferred to a new area.

(A little tender mercy found in a fortune cookie after my transfer!)

3. My new companion is Hermana C from Idaho. She was originally serving in Puerto Rico but her entire mission was evacuated when the second hurricane hit. She was relocated here and now I get to serve with her! She is awesome and we work well together :)

4. This town is CRAZZZYYYYY. I've already met sooo many people that were trippin on something. 

5. I get to serve with my bestie Elder T from the MTC. 

6. We live with 2 other hermanas. Hermana De La T is from Mexico but her family is now in Colorado and Hermana P is from Utah.

7. 6 Spanish missionaries serve in our ward: Our 4 hermanas and then Elder T and his companion Elder Q. 

8. I was asked to bear my testimony in church yesterday. ❤

9. It's a very Vietnamese and Latin populated area... like VERY.  I'm the only white person everywhere we go. 😊 

10. We were knocking doors at an apartment complex one night and some security guards came up to us and asked what we were doing. We stated our purpose and then they told us that we shouldn't be in that area in the car, because that's where all the gangsters hang out and lots of "incidents" happen there. So different from the peaceful farmers in my last area! 

11. We received a referral for a woman named S. She is golden. And Satan knows it! Every time we try to visit her something happens... the first time happened to be on our bike day, and it started pouring rain. She lives about 35 minutes away by bike and there was no way we were going to make it on time. So, we knocked on the Elders door and asked if we could borrow their car. They said yes, but when I tried to start it, the battery was dead. I said a prayer, turned the key, and it started. We made it to the lesson and it was the most spiritual lesson I've been in... 

But our second lesson with her on Saturday was even cooler. We didn't feel good about teaching her what we had originally planned, so we said a prayer together. Hermana C said, "Okay, whatever I open my scriptures to is the principle we are going to teach her"... 

Hermana C happened to open to one of her most favorite verses...

It was Alma 31:35 which mentions how precious souls are...

"Behold, O Lord, their souls are precious, and many of them are our brethren; therefore, give unto us, O Lord, power and wisdom that we may bring these, our brethren, again unto thee."

So we prepared a lesson on how L❤VED she is and finding peace through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  Then we headed to her house...

Every time we tried to use the GPS it would turn off. We tried to use the maps on our tablets, and they wouldn’t calculate our location. It seemed as though there was absolutely no way we could get there! Somehow, I miraculously remembered her address (which never happens), and we found it. We showed up 40 minutes late… But we made it!

We told her everything about how we planned the lesson and how Satan knows how wonderful she is, and she started crying. She said she almost got in a car crash the day before, but God moved her car without her even trying to, and she knew that He has a plan for her. 

We taught about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and how God is aware of her and her trials (which we were unaware of prior to the lesson). We talked about how much Jesus loves her and shared the video None Were with Him. The spirit was so thick. We went 4 solid minutes without anyone speaking or moving because no one wanted to disrupt it... We invited her to be baptized and she said yes!

So so awesome!

She made leaving my last area worth it. 

12. We had 5 investigators at church and found 9 new investigators! 

13. We had another lesson with a family that has never come to church before.

We shared Matt 26:40 And said that all Christ is asking of them is one hour to be with Him...

"And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?"

They came to church!

14. I get to see Sister P still cuz she's in my neighboring zone! 

15. Fiestas pretty much every night with members of the ward. 👏

16. Happy to be a missionary! 

Please pray for Sophia, Sulmi, Emily and Sulema! 

I Love you,

Hermana Brooks