Apr. 30, 2018 ~ She Saw the Wind Boisterous (Week 42)

Wassup fam and friends! 

Another week that flew by! I seriously can't believe it! When people told me at the start of my mission that the time went by fast, I didn't believe them. Haha I felt like I was going to be here forever. Literally. But it is going by so fast and I am learning so much. Being a missionary is pretty cool. There's just nothing like it 🤙.

So, first things first. I thought I was being transferred but I'm not. I'm actually staying here for my 5th transfer. I will be receiving 2 new companions: one will be Sister Butell and one will be a new missionary... entonces, Trio training! Crazy!

(With my MTC companion, Sister Ferrin).

Sister Londoño is being transferred to be with Sister Ferrin, who was my MTC companion.

I'm sad to see my baby leave the nest, but the fact that she will be with Sister Ferrin makes me happy. I love them both so much! And they will be great together :)

Last sleeping pic of its kind... sad day.

A pic with my bestie Elder Quiros.

He goes home on Wednesday!

I ate that whole fish.

But not the eyeballs.

Elder Quiros did that.

Service with my favorite people.

We had a camping themed district meeting.

We roasted hotdogs and S'mores.

Super fun.

Also, in case anyone is wondering what the inside of my mouth looks like, here it is.

An update on some of our investigators:

1. Raul (our maintenance man) is still super close to committing to baptism. This will be the week. We hope 🤞. We ate breakfast with him for 3 hours this morning and shot back an answer for every excuse he had for not getting baptized. He said He would pray about it. Which was HUGE. Please please continue to pray for him! We have so much faith that it will happen. 😊😊

2. Danya was in Utah all week because her cousin came home from her mission! She went to church there and had a great experience with her cousin, so we are excited to see her this week!

3. Remember the dad and son we mentioned last week? The ones who are both named Elias? Yeah, they're getting baptized. They are so prepared. We met them last Saturday, they came to church on Sunday (the next day), and on Wednesday they came to a baptism that the English elders had. There at the baptism we set a bap date with the son. He only speaks Spanish, and the baptism was in straight English, but through the gift of tongues and my awesome greenie, it was translated perfectly. When I asked the son what he thought, he told me that his heart felt peace, and he wanted to be baptized. So cool. 😄 May 19th is the day they chose. We will hopefully set the dad for the same date this week 😊.

4. I wish you all could meet Ruben. He's got a pretty strong personality, but he is pure goodness to the core. He has made so much progress through our lessons. To recall your memory, the first time we met with him, he dissed the Book of Mormon the entire time and refused to find anything good in a scripture about Jesus Christ. He refused to bring his Book of Mormon to every meeting... haha he would only bring his Bible. 😂 But, this week, we read Alma 36 with him (the story of Alma the younger) and he LOVED it. He applied so much to his own life and said, "Wow. Who knew this book had cool stories that are pretty similar to the bible but still different?" 😂 What a guy. He’s now reading everything we assign him and he no longer bashes it. He also came to the baptism on Wednesday and loved it so much we almost set a date with him as well. He talked about how cool the priesthood is and how honored he felt to be there. He ALSO came to our "Why I Believe " fireside on Sunday. Which was pretty much people just telling their conversion stories. I'm happy to stay with him 6 more weeks. When he gets baptized, whenever that day is, he will never fall away. He is so strong & faithful. 💕 The man just needed a little love, and he softened right up. ❤🤗🤗

I have been thinking a lot about the story of Jesus walking on the water. What great faith Peter must have had! Not just because he jumped over the side of the boat to walk to Jesus on the water...

but because he did so in the midst of a storm.

When Peter began to sink, it wasn't because the storm got worse or the waves got bigger.

It was because he began to "see the wind boisterous"...

"But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me." (Matthew 14:30)

When he began to focus on the storm around him, rather than the Savior and His power, he began to sink.

May We try to focus on the Savior, even when the storm surrounds us. His hand is stretched forth always. With Him and through Him we can do all things. 💕💕

Thank you for your love and prayers!

I love you all!!

Xoxo

Hermana Brooks