Mar. 19, 2018 ~ Blessings of the Book of Mormon (Week 36)

Hey all! And by 'all' I mean mom and grandma because I'm pretty sure you're the only two that read my blog posts any more😘. I love you! I miss you! And I hope all is well with you! ❤

1. We had 8 investigators at church yesterday. EIGHT! That's a lot!! Most weeks we are lucky to get 2 or 3. Ah I wanted to cry. I was so happy. One investigator went to the English ward and one went to the Vietnamese branch with her family, but they came! Woot woot! Such a huge miracle! [Because I know my dad will ask, the people that came to church were Erika and her son Alan, Danilo & Ingrid and their family, Natalia and her family (she is 9 and her parents have not participated in church for a long time... but they want her to get baptized and so they all came to church yesterday!), a guy named Juan whom we met tracting on Thursday, Nha and her family, and Angela. Sooo dang cooooolllllll).

2. Please pray for those mentioned above, as well as Abel, Areseli, Raymond, Fabby, Rene,  Ruben, and Maria. Oh.. and Erika.

3. We had a luau district meeting for reaching our goal of 120 new investigators as a distrcit. (We had to get 10 per companionship each week for 2 weeks.) Our district is the absolute coolest/ funnest/ best. 🤙

4. In fact, our district all begged President for 0 changes this transfer, and we got it. Haha no one in our district is being transferred. 👐👐👐👐  6 more weeks of party and hard work!! I'm seriously so happy.

5. Which means that our apartment stays the same! We are all best friends, so I'm not mad about it. I love sisters Coates and Penrod. They're literally the funniest people I have ever met.

6. And of course, I love my companion!! She started rapping "Ice Ice Baby" at our volleyball sports night, and the game literally stopped so everyone could watch her. #proudmothermoment. She also accidentally cussed while doing it. 😂 so yeah, we get along really well.

Yes she's OK with me posting pictures of her sleeping. haha

7.  Ingrid had her baby! His name is Andres and he is so dang cute.

Ingrid is one of our investigators… she acts more LDS than half the members and she considers herself a member… However, things are complicated… Words can't even express the love I have for that family...

We promised the boys a few weeks ago that if they read from the Book of Mormon every day, that they would be more patient with each other. When we followed up with them, they said, "Sister! You were so right! I have been more patient because I've been reading the Book of Mormon every day!" When their dad heard them, he turned to me and said, "Those are my kids? They're so strong and faithful!" And their father, who has been investigating the church for years, has now started to read the Book of Mormon for the first time. AND he listens to Gordon B. Hinckley talks on his way to work. Miracles upon miracles.

8. We met 2 guys playing pool in our clubhouse last Saturday. One of them (Ruben) actually ended up coming to church the next day and then we taught him this Thursday. He came to our lesson with his Bible in his hand and made it very clear from the beginning that he didn’t want another one (referring to the Book of Mormon). He ranted on for 30 minutes before we even started the lesson. Finally, our Bishop, who thankfully joined us, told him to be quiet and listen to what we had to say. Well, we taught him the Restoration, and used scriptures from the Bible like crazy to let him read for himself that our doctrine was true. When we finally got to the point about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, he became very quiet. As we recited the first vision, I saw the hairs on his arms stand up. The spirit was so strong, and our Bishop (who investigated the church for 20 years) told him not to be so stubborn and to pray for himself to know the truth. Ruben reluctantly committed to read 3 Ne 11… 😁 We will see if he really can "prove it wrong" once he reads it. 👐

9. My 5 favorite people in one picture. Actually, a few pictures. 👍👌👐🤙

10. Serving here is awesome because it's like being in a different country on every street.

Our bishop took us to a Vietnamese restaurant and it was very different but very good. 👌

11. A woman in our ward was asked to speak on obedience in church on Sunday. She spoke for 5 minutes and then called all of us missionaries up to sing to fill the rest of her time. So... that was new. 😂

12. ...Our members… 😂😂

13. Pretty sure this guy is parked on the street because he couldn't get over the lip to pull in the driveway.

14. I had exchanges with Hermana Zavala on Tuesday. She is so awesome. Such a great missionary!!

15. This little girl is a sweetheart. She gives me lots of hugs. 🤗🤗😍😍 her name is Natalie and I love her. :) (also featuring Elder Huber).

16. I have every right to now openly love the Warriors… This is a photo of me saying "one sec" while dying laughing because my comp made fun of the fact that I'm wearing a t-shirt under a pea coat and my hair looks like I'm trying to rock a "bump it". But for real, the Warriors love here is so real. There are flags and apparel and stickers everywhere. It's the best.

17. We were teaching this guy named Albert and he was so golden. But every time we taught him, he was super nervous and always looking around and could never focus. One day he casually said, "If I disappear for a few weeks, don't be alarmed. I have an arrest warrant and I'm runnin’ from the cops." Well, he disappeared, and we haven't heard from him since. So, I hope he can find some missionaries in jail or wherever he is hiding cuz he was super ready to be baptized. Haha.

18. The church is true. The Book of Mormon is the word of God. Joseph Smith was a true prophet.

I love you all and I love my Savior.

Love, Hermana Brooks