MY FAVORITE PEOPLE IN ALL OF THE WORLD THAT BRING ME SO MUCH JOY!!

HELLO HELLO HELLO HELLO!!! MY HEART IS SO FULL OF LOVE FOR YOU PEOPLE!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! I GOT ALL OF MY PACKAGES AND LETTERS FROM THE LAST SIX WEEKS YESTERDAY, AND I HAVE NEVER BEEN HAPPIER. SERIOUSLY, I COULD CRY. (I did cry.) THANK YOUUU.

JRU Crew- You are so funny. I die. Could you be more perfect Ash? I LOVED the notes and I died over the pictures. I saw the pictures and my heart broke. You all are my family and I love you SO. ps. where was your note E? And glad to hear you`ve turned hipster. I knew you always had it in you.

COURT AND JOE/MOM--THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!! The packages arrived here safely and with no problems. You have NO idea how happy I was to see those peanut butter Nature Valley bars. I actually broke down into tears (I`m a little fragile this week). I`ve missed them so much. Thank you thank you thank you thank you. And a new shirt!!! YOU REALLY DO LOVE ME!!! And more peanut butter and chocolate chips! Ah, you are so perfect. Thank you thank you thank you!! Court and Joe, you guys are the best! And apparently Portugal has no problems with London, so THANK YOU!! AH I LOVE YOU GUYS!! SERIOUSLY SO MUCH!!

This week. I don`t even know what to say. It was different. Way way different. I am learning a lot and it is really good. I think I`ll be learning a lot about the attributes of Christ this transfer. And memorizing lots of scriptures and singing lots of hymns in my head. I`m missing Sister Barlow a lot. My new companion is Sister Rojo, and she does things.....differently. I am trying really hard to be patient and to love her and to do everything that makes her happy, but.....well.....it appears as though I can`t really do anything right. So, if anyone has any advice on that one, I would happily take it. I`m trying to serve and work as hard as I can, but it`s hard to work alone. And you guys thought I was afraid of creepy men? Well...she thinks EVERYONE is creepy, but they`re all children of God, so we have to talk to all of them, even if she doesn`t want to. I`m working really hard and I`m praying really hard, and I know the Lord is answering my prayers. For instance--the packages and all the letters!! (Speaking of...my new zone leaders are already giving me a hard time about how many I got. #thatgirl) But, I am REALLY REALLY lucky, because I am living with two other girls (Sister Lofgreen and Sister Call) and they are absolute angels sent from above. Seriously, they are my support system every night. I know the Lord put us here together for a reason, so we will work it out and we will see miracles. Mosiah 24:13-16 is my scripture for the day/week/transfer. The Lord will lift our burdens from us. 

Also, other miracles. I`m understanding and speaking like a bajillion times better. Like over night. It's awesome. My companion has a Spanish accent that`s super hard to understand, so it`s actually kind of funny, but I`m doing the majority of the talking and teaching, so it`s a really good learning experience for me. And a lady from the ward was like wow! I totally thought you had been in the mission for longer, because you speak so well. So...all that torture from Cesar was actually a blessing from above.

And, we have a baptism this Saturday!! This man named Tose! It`s actually the coolest story. He and his wife got married forever ago, but she wasn`t active until about a year and a half ago, but then she started taking her kids to church with her every Sunday. He wanted NOTHING to do with it. But, after a LOT of family prayer and fasting, and 15 or so years, he finally started listening to the missionaries, and he is getting baptized with his son this weekend! It is going to be amazing! He has so much faith, and he is another example of true conversion. It`s amazing. I love seeing people change through Christ. Repentance is so, so real, and Jesus loves us so so much. (Speaking of, reading Jesus the Christ, and it is SO good. Everyone read it. Erin, read it. You`ll die. I love it.)

Anyways, so...this new area is great. We walk A LOT. We have an awesome ward. The area is really beautiful. We have 8 missionaries in the same chapel in two wards, so there are a lot of us in the same area. So, we`ll be spending a lot of time together and it will be fun.

I don`t really know what else to say other than thank you for being my rock and for always supporting me and loving me. You guys are the greatest in the whole world. Thank you for teaching me so much and helping me always. I love you all. And I could not be more grateful to have you in my life. Thank you thank you thank you. I love you.

xoxo,
Sister Brooks

Mother's Day with Familia Oliveira and some other members from the Ward