Hello Brooks family and Byers and friends! :D Life is good eh? Aren't we so blessed to have a loving Heavenly Father who watches over all of us and shows us He cares through everything around us? It's just great à mon avis... (I think that translates to "in my opinion"...)
So the Book of Mormon transfer challenge has been going really well for me. I've kept on top of it and so this morning I finished 3rd Nephi. It goes by so fast! But I absolutely love how the Savior taught the Nephites. He taught so clearly and powerfully that it can't be misunderstood. Chapter 27 has always been of favorite of mine. I really like verse 14 too.
Christ gave His life for us. He took upon Himself all of our sins and our pains, our trials and our struggles, our addictions and our sorrow, so that He would know how to help us through it. For this reason we never need to do it alone. He is always there for you so call out to the Savior as Alma did saying "O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me," (Alma 36:18) and I promise that He will come to your aid. I testify that He has done that for me. I have felt my burdens lifted and I know that He lives and that He knows and loves each of us intimately as our Older Brother. I invite and exhort you to always strive to remember Him and improve your relationship with Him. There is no better goal.
Tuesday the 24th:
That evening we went and had dinner with the Blondin family again. And what did we eat? Home made sushi! It was super good. I'm still surprised at myself sometimes and all the food I now like. It's a lot different from before my mission haha! Now I'm a cultured man! ;D We even had dessert sushi with rice leaves, chocolate rice and fruit. It was super good but the trick was wrapping it up right so it didn't all gush out, especially the ice cream. It was a lot of fun! That family is doing a lot of great missionary work with a friend who lives in Terrebonne so we were able to just encourage them onward and pray for more opportunities too!
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| Desert sushi with the Blondin family |
Wednesday the 25th:
It was a crazy busy day! After district meeting I went on an exchange with Elder Roueche from Terrebonne. We ate lunch and I finished up My Plan but then we got teaching and we didn't stop!
First we saw Jacques who came back to church for the first time in a long time on Sunday. He's encountering lots of difficulties but he's seeing lots of blessings and already I see the Spirit working changes in him too. He has a lot of weaknesses but he was comforted in reading Ether 12:27 with us. He's on the right path!
Next we saw Damond. We were accompanied by Fr. Lamer, a recent convert of a couple years. We focused on enduring to the end by praying often, studying the scriptures, and keeping the Sabbath day holy or what we like to call Spiritual CPR (Church, Pray, Read). I loved hearing Fr. Lamer's testimony of these principles that have blessed him so much. I was pretty jealous too when he said that he has a one hour train ride twice a day that he uses to just study the scriptures. He's pretty lucky!
After that we stuck in the same building to see Fr. Clermont who has health problems and can't always come to church. We talked a lot about agency and how we really need to use ours so much wiser now because of the state of the world we live in now. It brought him the Spirit to uplift and edify him which in turn made us feel good :)
We then took a little break for dinner before heading back to Repentigny to see Sr. Mingione. We read a chapter with her in the Book of Mormon and then she expressed that she was really mixed up over things. She knows the church is true and good but she still feels attached to her old church. She feels the Spirit at church and knows it's the Spirit. I was then really bold. We went to Moroni 7:16-17 and I asked her to link things all up with her feelings at church. She said that this verse taught her that because she felt good at church it came from God and that meant it must be true. So then I asked « Donc que faut-il faire ? » (What do we need to then?) Well I need to go where God is where I feel good. Then I was able to really testify to her of the blessings of church and how much it makes me feel good. It was incredible! The Spirit was so strong. And before we closed with a prayer she thanked us for helping her to realized things that sometimes she just couldn't get. It was amazing :)
And to finish off the day we got to have a follow up visit with Susanna. She's reading and had a good amount of questions so we helped her understand some bits of the Plan of Salvation some more and gave her the assignment to read 3 Nephi 11 to strengthen her understanding of Christ. It was an amazing and busy day! :D We taught 5 lessons and then Elder Barreiro and Elder Draper taught 3 so we together taught 8 lessons in one day! Woo! Amazing!
Thursday the 26th:
After weekly planning we had dinner with the Vallejos. When we sat down they put in front of us a bowl of soup with lobster and crab poking out of it. I was not sure what to do really but they then handed us some scissors and we started cutting away at the shell. It was quite bizarre for me haha but it tasted pretty good. We had some good laughs though as we struggled to open them up and sometimes splashed ourselves or just failed entirely. It was a good time :)
Elder Barreiro got hit pretty bad by one splash of soup from a misfired scissor cut to a claw which left his pants stained so we returned home to change and then we had a ton of calls to make. Elder Barreiro did most of them which was a proud moment for me seeing him proactive and in charge of it all :)
Friday the 27th:
We had interviews with President which was great! Mine was pretty short since I will be having my exit interview with him this coming Thursday. But he gave me advice on how to finish my mission. He added that since he knew me better than he knew other missionaries he was very upfront in saying, "Do what you've been doing." There's no need for herculean feats but be diligent to the end. It was just what I needed :) It was really sweet when he prayer at the end and thanked Heavenly Father for my service. I really do love him! :)
Later we got to see Mateo and help him understand the Plan of Salvation better. He's coming along slowly but surely. Hopefully he'll be able to come to church soon with his son! Then as we were out and about we had a flash rain storm and it was really hot so it felt so good! We got drenched but once it stopped we dried off pretty fast.
Then we got to see the Bentancurs. They've been doing their family scripture study which is awesome so we had a huge family Q&A about the Plan of Salvation. They're so fantastic!!! :D I'm so happy with how much they have changed since we got here.
Saturday the 28th:
In the morning we had the great news that Marceline has been visited by missionaries in Florida and that she's all set to go to church! Woo! Miracle! But we didn't have any appointments set up for the whole day because everything got cancelled so we hit the streets. It was really hot but it was fun to talk to some people. We even passed by a little event where a band was playing some Led Zeppelin like music. I enjoyed it ;) but moved on quickly. We had some great opportunities to testify to people that didn't accept to meet with us but hopefully were touched by what we said at least. No effort is wasted! :D
That evening though we were at the church for Sydney's baptism. It was wonderful! The members really showed up this time and it made for a delightful service. The change in Sydney has been just wonderful to see.
Sunday the 29th:
Unfortunately Jacques couldn't come to church due to being sick but everyone else came! We sat with Susanna but then Marisela and Sr Mingione came as well as all of the Bentancur family! And what's more, Fr. Bentancur was called as the 2nd counselor in the Sunday School presidency! Amazing!!!! :D We were so happy! And it is just great to see Elijah passing the sacrament and being involved. I love them so much! :D
After church we had the ward potluck which was a great opportunity for the members to surround the people we brought to church. Things are just going great here! :D
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| Ward Potluck! :D |
Then after church we got to a BBQ at Marisela's aunt's home with Fr. Bienvenue even. We got to talk to a good amount of non-members and hopefully some fruit will come of it. It was funny though because I was most definitely the only white person there. Everyone else was Haitian or Elder Barreiro ;)
So life is just great here in Repentigny! I can't believe that it's my last week but we're gonna work hard! we also had a surprise text and we're having a surprise zone training meeting on Tuesday, tomorrow, so it'll be fun to see everyone one last time. I love this work so much! There has been nothing in my life up to now quite as rewarding. I know that it is the work of the Lord and that I have been called of Him by His prophet. I love the Lord with all my heart, mind, might, and strength.
I love you all!
Love,
Elder Brooks :)
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