It's finally over. 3 cheers for the world cup. I was a little sad knowing that Argentina lost, love me some Latin fever. Now maybe people will want to listen to us and not have their eyes focused on the tv with GOOOOOOOOOL's flying all over the place.
This week was a gem. So many things are happening in this part of the vineyard. I'll just share a few of them with you. This ward is amazing. I have never met so many faithful saints. We have 3 sets of missionaries in our Spanish ward including us, the Spanish Elders and the Portuguese Elders. There is a man in the English ward who goes tracting, yes like knocks doors and has given us a few handfuls of referrals. What are you doing in your free time?
Our investigators are doing so well. We have a few baptisms planned for August and when I say they are elect, they are ELECT. We have Blanquita (aka Blanca) who is an older woman who has so much spunk, but yet is so humble and willing to listen and act on what we teach her. She was a professor at a college in Colombia and is one sharp cookie. Those always make for the best investigators, since they are full of questions. We have Maria, a young mom with 2 young girls, and she is just the sweetest. She as well as been having a ton of questions of random weird doctrine, but is always mentioning how she wants the same happiness that we have. She says with every Mormon she has come in contact with that they have a special light about them accompanied with a calming spirit. She wants the same happiness. Luckily, there is no secret to where this happiness comes from.
Recently our mission prez has given us a challenge to read the Book of Mormon in a 100 days along with the whole mission. In my reading this week I read a verse in 1 Nephi 17 that just hit me. Verse 21 says, "Behold, these many years we have suffered in the wilderness, which time we might have enjoyed our possessions and the land of our inheritance; yea, and we might have been happy." There are so many things in life that bring us temporary happiness. I have come to have this weird obsession with Nephi, not like a Book of Mormon crush, but because of his outlook on life. He was given the harshest conditions and it seemed like his trials were just one right after the other, but he never murmured and always had complete faith in the Lord. I'm sure it would have been easy for him to look back at the life that he once had while in Jerusalem with all the luxuries he once enjoyed, but he went forward with faith and didn't complain one bit. That's the person I am striving to be. Someone just full of love for life and my Savior. Unstoppable. Unshakable.
Our district is all Spanish speakers.... and then there is the Portuguese Elders. Our district meetings are in Spanish and it literally feels like we leave America for 2 hours and enter into a Latin country. So for all you that have asked me how the Spanish is going, it's going.
Funniest part of our week. Granted we have a ton of these moments, but this is just yeah no words, only laughter. We started talking to this guy as he was going into his apartment and he was showing some great interest, but then we said other missionaries would have to come and teach him because we speaka da Spanish. Then the next thing we hear is "oh yeah, I speak Mexican." Now any where else in the world this would be incorrect because we speak SPANISH, but here in Florida we have everywhere from Cuban Spanish to the Mexican Spanish, each with it's own accompanying problems. Except, Colombia, still the favorite.
** alma 5:26-27 **
Con amor,
Hermana Brooks
This week was a gem. So many things are happening in this part of the vineyard. I'll just share a few of them with you. This ward is amazing. I have never met so many faithful saints. We have 3 sets of missionaries in our Spanish ward including us, the Spanish Elders and the Portuguese Elders. There is a man in the English ward who goes tracting, yes like knocks doors and has given us a few handfuls of referrals. What are you doing in your free time?
Our investigators are doing so well. We have a few baptisms planned for August and when I say they are elect, they are ELECT. We have Blanquita (aka Blanca) who is an older woman who has so much spunk, but yet is so humble and willing to listen and act on what we teach her. She was a professor at a college in Colombia and is one sharp cookie. Those always make for the best investigators, since they are full of questions. We have Maria, a young mom with 2 young girls, and she is just the sweetest. She as well as been having a ton of questions of random weird doctrine, but is always mentioning how she wants the same happiness that we have. She says with every Mormon she has come in contact with that they have a special light about them accompanied with a calming spirit. She wants the same happiness. Luckily, there is no secret to where this happiness comes from.
Recently our mission prez has given us a challenge to read the Book of Mormon in a 100 days along with the whole mission. In my reading this week I read a verse in 1 Nephi 17 that just hit me. Verse 21 says, "Behold, these many years we have suffered in the wilderness, which time we might have enjoyed our possessions and the land of our inheritance; yea, and we might have been happy." There are so many things in life that bring us temporary happiness. I have come to have this weird obsession with Nephi, not like a Book of Mormon crush, but because of his outlook on life. He was given the harshest conditions and it seemed like his trials were just one right after the other, but he never murmured and always had complete faith in the Lord. I'm sure it would have been easy for him to look back at the life that he once had while in Jerusalem with all the luxuries he once enjoyed, but he went forward with faith and didn't complain one bit. That's the person I am striving to be. Someone just full of love for life and my Savior. Unstoppable. Unshakable.
Our district is all Spanish speakers.... and then there is the Portuguese Elders. Our district meetings are in Spanish and it literally feels like we leave America for 2 hours and enter into a Latin country. So for all you that have asked me how the Spanish is going, it's going.
Funniest part of our week. Granted we have a ton of these moments, but this is just yeah no words, only laughter. We started talking to this guy as he was going into his apartment and he was showing some great interest, but then we said other missionaries would have to come and teach him because we speaka da Spanish. Then the next thing we hear is "oh yeah, I speak Mexican." Now any where else in the world this would be incorrect because we speak SPANISH, but here in Florida we have everywhere from Cuban Spanish to the Mexican Spanish, each with it's own accompanying problems. Except, Colombia, still the favorite.
** alma 5:26-27 **
Con amor,
Hermana Brooks