I Rode a Ferris Wheel for the Work of Salvation (Oct. 27, 2014)

Salut tout le monde!  Bonjour de la belle ville de Granby!

(Hi everyone! Hello from the beautiful town of Granby!)

It's been a fantastic week here in this wonderful place.  The weather is turning cold quick and sooner than later it's going to be snowing!  Wooho! :D  But things are definitely ramping up here in Granby and it is so cool to see!

Spiritual Thought:

"He shall fight for you." Deuteronomy 3:22.  How's that for an ally in whatever situation you have?  Honestly I just thought that was so cool to read and it gives me strength because I don't have to be invincible; someone who is though has my back :)  Take courage!

Tuesday 21st:

As I said I would in my last email, I finished Leviticus and Ether!  We had a lesson with Valerie that day out in Farnham about the Restoration and we got down to some deep principles which I love! :D  Also this week we did a good amount of knocking and contacting but not much immediate success.  This week was a good amount of sowing for the future :)

Wednesday 22nd:

In Moroni 6 I found that literally everything we do in the church needs to be done by the Spirit.  I love it because that's what I have to do right now as a missionary :)  

Then we had District Meeting in our apartment!  It was a party! Of course a party of learning and missionary stuff haha!  Then we had a lesson with Kalila on the Law of Chastity.  I loved how Frere Donovan explained that murder takes away life and Chastity things create life.  That's why those sins are so serious to God.  He cares about life a lot :)  Then that night we got to have a coordination meeting with our new Service Missionary Couple from Rimooskie, the Levesques :)  They're awesome and are going to help us out so much! :D

Thursday 23rd:

We planned on going contacting and knocking that day and it rained so we knew that it was meant to be.  Knocking is best done wet! ;D  We had a lesson with our ami Damond which went well but right now he is just comparing everything in our church to the Catholic church.  We're trying to show him that it's not church against church, it's about finding the truth for yourself and taking a look at what we're offering.  

But we went over to Sister Rigg's for dinner and we shared Alma 19:16 and the story of Abish.  Super cool stuff so go check it out.  It's a good guide for Member Missionary Work and how the less known people can make a HUGE difference :)  We finished our day with a MickeyD's lesson with Jennifer.  It was awesome!  She had fantastic questions and she wants to read the Book of Mormon and she wants to find out for herself.  She's so awesome!  Then at the end of the lesson she said the prayer and it was so sincere!  I was amazed :)  We love Jennifer :)

Friday 24th:

Read Moroni 8 this day and I loved reading the Father to Son advice.  Reminded me a lot of some conversations I've had with Dad :)  We had our weekly planning that day and then went to Addie's for dinner with the Levesques.  At one point we went out back, Elder Losee and I, to close the chicken coop for the night and it was pitch black...At 7:30...  But the stars were so beautiful because we were in the middle of the wooded wilderness :)  I love nature!  Really the beauty in nature is such a blessing all around us.  It just testifies that God exists because how else could something so beautiful just happen!

Saturday 25th:

When I was writing in my journal that night I realized that it was the 25th...I have hit my 4 month mark already!?! How did that happen!?!  But that morning I finished Numbers and Moroni!  Woo!  I've been blazing through the books in the scriptures! I loved the end of Moroni 10 because it really brings it all back to Christ and that it's all centered on him :)  Come unto Christ and be perfected in him! 

Although soon after our personally study we left the apartment and headed to the Zoo!  Woo!  Now you might be thinking, "That's not a very missionary thing."  Well it is because we went with a group from our unit!  It was a blast!  Also I got to try a Queue de Castor which is a BeaverTail, being a deep fried dough with dessert toppings.  So good! :D  But with our group we had Jennifer, Kalila, Tania, the Boulangers, and the Fremonts.  It was so much fun!  I just get to hang out with people and talk to them!  Being a missionary is the best! :D  Towards the end we rode the Ferris Wheel in the zoo.  It was so weird... I kinda had to step back and say, this is ok Elder Brooks, you're not breaking any rules, missionaries are allowed to have fun.  Haha!  I've already changed so much!  When we got home though it felt like I'd just gotten home from a long day at Disneyland because we were at the zoo for 6 hours!  

Elder Losee and Me

The gang!
(Elder Lossee, Lolo, Kalila, Tania, Fernando, Simeon)

Kangaroo! Lolo and Fernando in the pouch.

But then the Levesques brought us over a feast!  A rotisserie chicken, fresh bread, cider, and dessert!  We also took a little trip out to Farnham to visit Valerie again but this time I got to teach simple little lesson to her daughter Shelley which was awesome!  I did it all alone too because Elder Losee was talking to Valerie's husband who's not a member.  Talk about leaps in my French progress!  On the way home we received our transfer call and....Nothing is changing!  Elder Losee and I are sticking around in Granby and it's gonna be great!

Sunday 26th:

At church we had quite some surprises!  Jennifer couldn't come because of work but she got her mom to come instead!  She's already doing missionary work!  So awesome!  Then during sacrament meeting, a couple that we had never seen before walked in and sat down then stayed for the second hour too! We're starting to have people just throw themselves at us!  It definitely made for a huge Gospel Principles class that was just as big as the Sunday School class.  After church we had our missionary correlation meeting for the unit and  we had 9 people in it!  6 fulltime missionaries of 2 couples and us youngsters and then 3 members.  We have the resources in Granby now so it's time to organize and get to work!  

Afterward we went by Monique, a potential who called us the day before, and she had been reading and wants more!  Then we were able to have a lesson with Nannette too!  For dinner we had a Rootbeer BBQ pulled pork dinner with the addition of the Victoria Spanish Elders from Longueuil, one of them being Elder Gutierrez from my MTC district!  It was so awesome!  Then we got to have a pass off lesson of one of their investigators to us and stopped by Tania for a quick little lesson with 4 Elders.  We dropped them back off at their car then and later they told us that a guy contacted them and they were able to set up a rendezvous for us!  

Elder Boscan and Gutierrez with us for dinner!

We ended the night with a lesson with Francois and Paulette all about the Atonement.  I love the Atonement so much and I have seen the blessings of it in my life so much already.  But Elder Losee was not feeling good at all with a huge headache so afterwards we went home and he went straight to sleep while I took care of some planning for the next day.

Now today, Monday, we're starting a new transfer!  We've got high hopes and expectations and maybe even some baptisms will be in the coming months!  All in all, Granby is on its way to becoming a branch in no time!  It's so exciting for me to be such a big part of it!  The work of salvation is hastening indeed!

That's it for this week :)  Life is fantastic!  Elder Losee and I are continually improving our companionship and I'm just doing great :)  Seriously there's nowhere else I'd rather be!

I hope and wish the best for all of you!  I pray for you all and I can feel your prayers for me.  There's no one I'd have the energy that I do without your prayers and the support I receive from God.  It is his work.  All I'm doing is trying to tune this instrument that I am to keep up the pace :)

I love you all!  Take care and have a wonderful week!

Elder Brooks :)