General Conference was such a delight. I learned so much from it and felt so edified. As I pondered about what I might share with you today I was brought to think about the fact that we have modern day prophets and those called of God to give unto us His word. They aren't teaching their opinions or ideas but the doctrines of the Gospel of Jesus Christ - Christ's words. This reminded me of a scripture in Mosiah 15:11-12 which teaches us about those who hearken unto the prophets.
Behold I say unto you, that whosoever has heard the words of the prophets, yea, all the holy prophets who have prophesied concerning the coming of the Lord—I say unto you, that all those who have hearkened unto their words, and believed that the Lord would redeem his people, and have looked forward to that day for a remission of their sins, I say unto you, that these are his seed, or they are the heirs of the kingdom of God.
For these are they whose sins he has borne; these are they for whom he has died, to redeem them from their transgressions. And now, are they not his seed?
So how are you doing at hearkening unto their words? Are you heeding the invitation they give us? How seriously do you take their counsel? Do you really believe that God called them to give his word? Wherever you may be with your faith, I invite you to take another step forward. I know that as you strive to apply what you learn from the Lord's authorized servants that He will pour out blessings upon you and your family. The Lord loves you and He will help you do what He asked you to do. I know this to be true and I encourage you to discover it for yourself as well.
Tuesday the 29th:
That evening we got to go home teaching with a member of our bishopric to a part active member family. It was great when he asked the kids who the greatest teacher was. One girl responded with the obvious answer of Jesus but the boy said he had the real answer. "Heavenly Father." I didn't think he could surpass the answer of Jesus but he did. It was awesome :)
Wednesday the 30th:
So in the morning before studies I made a cake for district meeting which we frosted with Nutella. I probably should have taken a picture... (I'm falling out of my habit of pictures...) But needless to say it was good! That afternoon after district meeting I went on an exchange with Elder Pyron which was a blast. We got to teach Damond the Restoration and he just ate it up. He had read all the scriptures we gave him so as we taught him it was just bringing things to his remembrance. He's doing great! :D
Then in the evening we got to visit Sr. Casavant. As we followed up with her reading of the Book of Mormon she brought up a question about who had a vision of who to get the gold plates. So we read the Testimony of Joseph Smith in the front of the Book of Mormon with her. The Spirit really testified to all of us that it really happened. As we testified of its veracity the Spirit amplified our words and took it to our hearts. It was a wonderful experience.
Thursday the 31st:
In the morning, all four of us from Joliette and Repentigny went to help a member move some things across town. It was raining and then there were 4 missionaries in civilian clothes. We all felt pretty funny looking at each other in casual wear haha :) Then once we had finished, Sr. Duval offered to make us lunch which we did not refuse. She asked if we wanted to watch something which initially was not appealing but she said she had some church material so we watched the Old Testament seminary videos in French! :D It was way too weird just sitting around watching something with 3 other guys haha... :)
That evening we went to dinner at the Vallejos family's home. Sr. Vallejos made tacos... they were so good. I had 8 of them... And I'm proud of it ;) But afterward we got to have a good talk with Rolando, their nephew. He has a testimony of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith but he hasn't really made the connection that he can stop searching different truths. We focused on helping him make some connections and showing him the blessings of baptism but he's not too sure yet. So we invited him to really pay attention to General Conference over the weekend to get his answer. We prayed and fasted for that!
Friday the 1st of April...????:
Yeah I can't believe it's April. Time is just flying. We had our weekly planning in the afternoon. While we were doing it we got a media referral. It was a miracle! So that evening we got out and contacted Dev from Cameroon. He is so cool! He's open but really busy so we set up for next week to come back. Something else Elder Barreiro and I discovered is that I tend to say some deep things during weekly planning. "In missionary work 1 by 1 is lonely but 2 by 2 is holy" That's one of them that came out :) Haha it was fun :)
Saturday the 2nd:
So unfortunately we had a lot of cancellations this week so we weren't able to see most of our investigators but it was an amazing week anyway. General Conference was an absolute pleasure. It seemed like every single talk was tailored specifically for me in every way. I loved it!!! I loved Elder Renlund's talk about drawing nearer to God and Jesus Christ through the sacrament. Very powerful. We watched the first session at the church and then between session we passed by some people in Repentigny, ending up giving away two copies of the Book of Mormon, before going over to the Bentancurs for the second session.
We watched it in Spanish but they got me a tablet for English which was nice :) I loved Elder Bednar and Elder Ballard's talks on retaining a remission of our sins and Family Councils. Both of them are going to be applied in my life greatly :)
Right after that we headed down to the church again for a priesthood pizza party before the priesthood session. Then I proceeded to get blown away by talks written directly at me. Yes that hour and a half was a feast of truth that was thrown at me. I loved it. My favorite part though was when Pres. Eyring directed his comments to current missionaries and soon to be returned missionaries. What did he say we should do after our missions? Get married. I was sitting next to our stake president and at that moment he patted me on the back. Yup. President Eyring just told me what to do. It was great :) I loved that session so much :)
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| Priesthood Pizza Party! |
Sunday the 3rd:
The two Sunday sessions were absolutely wonderful. I loved the focus on the temple, especially from Elder Cook. I can't wait to go to the temple every single week if not multiple times! :D That's definitely a huge blessing of being in Utah. Temples are so available and we can go whenever! :D And then the last session just blew me away again. The temple holds the power of godliness. Jesus resurrected and we all shall too. Through His resurrection are all things healed. And then Elder Holland taught us about keeping our heads up and pressing forward after peaks of spiritual enlightenment. It was absolutely amazing :)
But it just got better afterward. We then went straight to meet up with the branch president of the English branch that covers Repentigny and his wife to teach her friend for the first time. We met Linnea from Honduras and had the most beautiful lesson with her. Linnea lost her son two years ago and is still going through a lot of trials with her whole family. Sr. Velasco was the one speaking for the most part but she hit everything we had planned to share with her about the resurrection and the Atonement. I also thought it was beautiful when she brought out her conference notes and shared them with Linnea. Linnea was crying and we finished our visit by giving her a blessing. It was incredible how strong the Spirit was in that room. And even though all of this was in Spanish I still understood through my feelings and the gift of tongues. It was incredible. And this is why the bet way to spread the gospel is through members because they are able to connect at a level us missionaries cannot. But I am so grateful for the wonderful experience that was. The Lord truly brought us all together for that moment and he was there among us as he has promised us "Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I will be also."
I love this gospel so much. It is true. It is real. Christ lives. This is His Church and we heard His apostles and prophets. I testify of His resurrection and of His power to change us. I know that He has changed me during my mission in ways unimaginable. I am no longer the same person that left Utah nearly two years ago. I have become a new creature in Christ, changed by His Spirit. For this I am eternally grateful.
I love you all so much!
Love,
Elder Brooks
Elder Brooks
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