BUT OH MY GOODNESS SO
MANY MIRACLES LAST WEEK!!! First off, my beloved Diogo, who I am SO sad I had
to leave, BUT GUYS. He is SO awesome. He threw a little temper tantrum when he
found out transfers exist and it was the funniest, but then he was so sweet and
he was praying all week that `if it wasn´t too selfish of him, we wouldn´t
leave him.´ Aw, and he also loves magic, so he was showing us all his tricks
this week, and then one of his prayers, he said that if we do have to be
separated, that we can all play cards together in heaven. Seriously, my heart.
Guys. He´s perfect. And he said, `If you guys leave me, I´d have to sit all
alone at church.` And Sister Barlow and I just looked at each other and we were
like WHAT?! HE´D STILL GO TO CHURCH!! Happy day!!!
And he was ALL about
tithing when we taught it to him, and he was like, `And if I´m just a student
and I can´t pay anything, because I´m not making anything, then I will just
dedicate my life to God and make sure that I am doing everything in my power to
follow the path that he wants me to follow.`I´M SORRY WHAT? Oh man. He didn´t
even believe in God three weeks ago!! AH! I LOVE HIM! Seriously, he is so rad.
I am so so so happy we found him!
AND OH I ALMOST
FORGOT!! HE STOPPED SMOKING!!! You´d never believe it. I did it. I was that
missionary. I offered to give up chocolate for him to give up smoking. I KNOW.
I NEVER thought it would happen either. My heart dropped as the words came out
of my mouth, but they did. And I was SO happy when he said that he could NEVER
let me do that. Phew. Close one. Anywaysss, we´d been praying and praying, so
finally, we were like `Please let him be repulsed by the thought of smoking and
that way he was want to do it anymore.`And the next day, he got super sick and
had a sore throat and he couldn´t smoke anymore!! yayayaya!!! I was so happy!!!
Literally we were jumping up and down. We had a Meredith/Christina dance party
for him after we hung up. And then a couple days later, he said that he tried
to smoke again, because he thought he was missing something, but halfway
through the cigarette, he was `repulsed!` HE USED THE EXACT WORD!! Oh my, oh
my, GOD IS SO GOOD GUYS!
Oh, I also got my
first Portuguese mix tape from Diogo this week. So....yeah. Bring on the funny
Portuguese songs that I can´t understand.
ALSO. We have this
other family, Milena and her mom Mirita. They are seriously SO ELECT. They are
the nicest and they loved making this chocolate cake from the heavens with us
(Bolo de Brigadeiro) and so maybe we made it three times last week, and she
made us eat like half the cake EVERYTIME and I literally felt that the fat kid
in Matilda just nomming on the chocolate cake and feeling like I was going to
die. Torture I tell you.
But, they are
seriously SO awesome. They just accept everything. We had the WEIRDEST lesson
with them though, where an awesome member came with us, and at the end, he was
like, `You can be a pioneer in your family. Every member a missionary.`And
we´re just like....uh....this is the second lesson. But, whatever. She was all
over it. Elect I´m telling you. And then the next day, we went over and she
told us she was in a LOT of pain, because she has kidney stones and needs
surgery and can´t get it until December (yikes, Portugal). Anyways, so we were
talking about Palavra de Sabedoria and she just accepted right away, which is
AWESOME, because this woman LOVES her black tea. But she just left it on the
table and got up and was totally done with it. It was so cool. And then she
goes, `My pain is gone. MY PAIN IS GONE!` And she runs over and hugs us and she
is so happy and she´s like, I know it came because of you guys and your message
and the promised blessings. AHH!! SO RAD! I think they´re going to be baptized
in a couple weeks, and I am so sad I´m gonna miss it, but they are so kind and
so loving and so perfect!
This transfer thing is
hard. I was just getting used to the area and people and making friends and
what not, and now it´s like goodbye forever.... Oh well. It will all be well.
It´s just weird. Constant change here in the mission field.
Oh, and we´re doing
this awesome study in the Book of Mormon right now, and I´m loving it SO much,
I want to tell you all about it. You use four different colors to mark-names of
Christ, Doctrine of Christ, when Christ speaks, and attributes of Christ. And
then at the bottom of every page, you count up how many of each you have. I
have never realized how much the Book of Mormon is truly another testiment of
Jesus Christ. I mean, I knew it, but I never really knew it. And it is so
amazing to see how often Christ and Heavenly Father speak to their children.
Anyway, it´s awesome, and I´ve yet to pass a page without at least one thing
marked at the bottom and I love it so so much. So, DO IT. You´ll love it too.
I have pictures, but
I´ll have to send them next week, because I don´t have the right cord for this
new internet place. I´m sorry. I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU SERIOUSLY SOOOO MUCH!!!
NOTHING IN THE WHOLE WORLD HAS EVER MADE ME HAPPIER THAN THAT ONE PHONE CALL.
You guys are the best and the funniest and the people at the Oliveiras house
were like, `Woah, you never stopped talking. Ever. We thought you were more
calm and reserved. It was funny to watch.` Oh hi, I´m super calm and reserved.
Nope...just can´t speak your language. HA. Although, I´m already seeing a lot
of miracles in this new area and understanding a bajillion times better. It´s
awesome. ANYWAYS. I HAVE TO GO I ALWAYS HATE THIS PART SO MUCH. KEEP BEING
PERFECT. KEEP BEING BEAUTIFUL. KEEP LOVING GOD! I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE
YOU I LOVE YOU! GOD LOVES YOU! AND THE SUN IS SHINING...SO...that´s proof. I
LOVE YOU!!
xoxo,
Sister Brooks
"new school new babe pool" classic
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