Helaman 5:41
"You must repent, and cry unto the voice, even until ye shall have faith in Christ, ... and when ye shall do this, the cloud of darkness shall be removed from overshadowing you."
I really liked this verse because of that phrase of "until ye shall have faith in Christ." I've encountered so many people that either don't have the desire to pray or don't believe God is there. But if we follow the pattern in this verse, sometimes we need to show a little desire and effort and do something until we receive what we desire. In a BYU talk from Ray Smith he said that his mission president invited them to pray every morning until they had the Spirit and then pray with the Spirit. So my invitation to all of you is to take a moment to kneel down and pray with whatever faith you have; pray until you feel your faith increase and you feel something that you haven't felt before. I promise you that the Lord will grant you more faith if you show forth a desire for it. I have seen this work in my own life and I know that He is always listening.
Monday the 16th:
So I really hit the New Testament that afternoon and I finished Hebrews and read all the way through 2 Peter. (Later in the week I was able to finish all of the epistles and now I'm in Revelation!) But that night we met up with the De Langes who were called as ward missionaries. We had dinner with Susanna which was quite an occasion. Then we had a great lesson all about faith, answering her questions from what she read in Alma 32. It was great! :D She's really coming along!
Then we got to see Sr. Mingione. We taught her all about the Holy Ghost again and tied it all the to how we can receive revelation. It was very powerful. Then Fr. De Lange got talking to her and she brought up all sorts of excuses and each one he just burned through with doctrine and testimony. It was incredible! The Spirit was so strong that Sr. Mingione was actually crying by the end and she knew it was the Spirit! She's making so much progress! :D Then to finish up the night we got to do a little FHE with Marisela! :D
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| Marisela with her cats :) |
Tuesday the 17th:
We met up with the Elders from Joliette and I went on an exchange with Elder Pyron. It was super fun to talk to him about how he's doing and all with going home soon. We're both just in a good amount of shock about how fast it has gone. In the afternoon we got to see Mateo for a moment and set something up with him. It had been a long time since we'd seen him so we were glad to finally make contact again.
Then we went to the church to do some more My Plan. We took care of two sessions on Self Reliance and then Dating & Temple Marriage. It was pretty exciting setting goals and expectations for dating haha ;D But it was great to really tie it down to gospel doctrine and principles.
For dinner we were with the Marson family who is just great! We got to prep them for a lesson they were going to attend with the Sisters the next day for the friend of one of the daughters. They're doing great work! And then we had Ward Council!
Wednesday the 18th:
After district meeting we got to see Damond and teach him all about the Holy Ghost. During the lesson I was surprised when an analogy came to mind that I had never thought of before. It was definitely from the Spirit. Pretty much life is like we're on a treadmill. Everytime we make an error or sin we move back a little on the treadmill. Then we're able to repent and be baptized which moves us back up to the top of the treadmill. Then we receive the gift of the Holy Ghost which allows us to step off of the treadmill and start really moving forward. Justification and sanctification! It was so cool! :D But it just clicked with Damond which was so cool! :D
Thursday the 19th:
We had a lesson in the morning with a new investigator named Kanelo. We really got to know his background before we taught too much so we could figure out where he was at. It was amazing how smooth the whole lesson went. We always brought it back to Jesus Christ and so when we introduced him to the Book of Mormon it was just natural to show that God would continue giving us His word. Then we brought up baptism and he had some good questions about it but after answering them we invited him to be baptized and he accepted! He said "I'm not someone to pass up a million dollars if someone is offering it to me." Then we asked him who he knew that would benefit from this message and he gave us 4 people right there. Amazing! :D
Friday the 20th:
We went down to Montreal for an exchange with the zone leaders. I went with Elder Pulsipher who came into the mission with me. It was fun to talk about after mission plans and to know just how many people we're going to see back at BYU. It'll be great! For most of the day we were walking around talking to people and it turned out to be really fun. Within one specific hour I contacted different people in three different languages and none of them were English. I talked to most people in French and then there were two people that didn't speak French or English so I just started talking to them in Creole and another in Spanish. I was amazed how easily it just flowed from me. The gift of tongues is so real! And I am so grateful for the skills and especially languages I have learned on my mission :)
Later we were passing by some people and we saw a Haitian woman doing some yard work so we went and offered to help. She refused because we were dressed nicely haha but it sparked a good conversation. We got to know her and she was so nice and open to talk with us. As we wrapped things up we asked for her phone number but she wouldn't give it to us since she wasn't home much. So then I asked if we could leave with a prayer and so I said a quick prayer and right after we said amen she said something along the lines of, "well actually here's my number. Maybe you can catch me sometime at home." It was a miracle! :D It was awesome!
Saturday the 21st:
Saturday was just awesome. In the morning before leaving Montreal we went all four of us to a lesson with a new investigator since we hadn't been able to find a member. It was such a cool lesson and I loved how this woman received the message. I specifically asked her a couple good questions. "Do you want to know if the Book of Mormon is true?" "Yes." "And what would it mean to you if it is true?" "Well that would change my life because it would be the word of God." It was so powerful to see the Spirit teach her in that instant. I loved it!
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| Lunch with Elder Udave and Elder Pulsipher (bacon wrapped hot dogs and pasta) |
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| Elder Pulsipher, Elder Udave, Elder Barreiro, myself |
A little later we departed from Montreal and hit the road going all the way to Joliette. It is a beautiful city, very green and full of life and culture. There I got to do the baptismal interview for Sydney which was a dream. I love interviewing these people because the gospel really changes people so much! She was so childlike and I could see the Spirit had wrought a mighty change in her heart.
Then we rushed down to Repentigny for our last lesson with Marceline. She was crying when we showed up due to some grief for her deceased daughter but we all gave her a blessing and she was doing better then. But we tailored our message to hope in the resurrection and enduring to the end. She's such ao wonderful person and I'm so glad to know her!
For dinner we went to the Levant family's home. They're just so great! We talked a lot about my after mission plans and then we shared a message all about overcoming struggles and trials because they're family has been going through a tough time lately. It was great! We've really built some great relationships with members in the ward lately.
After that we went to the Bentancurs with Fr. Lavene for their son's birthday party. It was a blast! And we even got to talk with some of their nonmember friends that were there. They're making great progress!
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| Bentancur's birthday with Fr. Lavene |
Sunday the 22nd:
Church was absolutely wonderful. We had so many people at church! Jacques came for the first time in a very long time and he loved it! When we greeted him he gave us a big hug and said loudly "I'm back!!!" He's great! Sr Mingione and Marisela also came and had a great experience. And then all of the Bentancurs were there too!!! It was so amazing! :D Évêque (Bishop) Limon also spake and gave a wonderful talk that was so led by the Spirit. He taught to so many needs that I could pick out ideas that responded to the needs of the people that were there. It was beautiful! :D
After church we had dinner at home and then we got a call from Marteo's phone. It turned out his autistic son called us then handed it over to his father so we got to go over and see him for a moment. It was a miracle! :D His son must definitely feel the Spirit when we come! :D
Monday the 23rd:
It was La Fête des Patriotes (patriot's day) so we had a regular proselyting day. It was a very unexpected day. In the afternoon we walked over to a neighboring road where Marisela and some other people we know live and as we arrived Noemi, Marisela's sister immediately called us in since they had some friends over, one especially from YSA. Then Noemi made us some spicy spaghetti and we got to read a chapter in the Book of Mormon together. Surpise number one! :D
Then we went to pass by Kanelo and right as we pull up so did he! Miracle! He was just chilling in the car with his friend so we talked to them both and now his friend is going to meet with missionaries in Montreal! Amazing! :D
A little later we passed by the Laplante family to drop off a tupperware they had lended us and instead of just saying hi they invited us in and we had a surprise dinner with them! They are the best! :D
Then for the evening we were with Fr. Daron and we first visited Sr. Mingione. We read a chapter in the Book of Mormon with her to start and I was amazed at how much more she is getting out of the scriptures now. Coming to church has made such a big difference in her as I've seen. Then right as we finished the chapter she brought up some wonderful questions about why we have to die and how she's scared of death right now. So we turned to the scriptures and helped her understand the resurrection better and we are going to keep on that topic for the next time. Amazing! :D I really love her so much! :D She's coming to church again this week! She's back to stay it seems! :D
Then we got to see Marisela again for FHE. We focused on how she could improve her scripture study which brought up a great discussion. We even read from Preach My Gospel together in chapter 2. She's doing so great! She even shared that for a while she was losing her desire to go to church but now she really wants to go to church all the time. It 's absolutely wonderful. The Lord is working wonders here in Repentigny!
So there's my week. Miracles upon miracles and it's just a joy :) I can't believe that I only have two weeks left but I'm giving it my all! :D Now keep your heads up and pray hard this week. Grow a little more like your Savior each day and before you know it you'll become a more devoted disciple of Christ.
«Au Jardin» (A French Only Hymn that's beautiful! :D)
I love you all so much!
Love,
Elder Brooks :)
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