FAMILY--->
hello
hello, first off, I love you all so much! It was great to hear from you
today! I didn't hear from Jake which is a bummer I hope he is doing
well! I will try to answer all your questions and share some fun details
from this past week!
I
will be watching conference at the chapel unless we go to a members
home. There are a few homes we've thought of going to but, have not
asked them yet. It depends on what sessions our investigators come to. I
had the same thought that you and I were watching the RS conference at
the same time-- sort of haha. Because it was 8 pm here and 6 pm there. It
was incredible and I was to happy to hear from Pres. Monson. I was
looking for Cassie the whole time and never saw her! I will have to
re-watch it! I had a feeling she would be in it! I cant believe I missed
her!
It's
still really hot here in FL. The evenings and mornings are just right! With a nice breeze! That's fun that Jake has a blog! I'm impressed with
your comp skills mom! You will be teaching me how to use a comp when I
get back. Now its all backwards! haha. I'm glad my application is
complete! thank you for taking care of all of that for me! it helped
more than you know! Sis Dougal just smiled when I told her she was
popular at our home! I cant wait to see all of her videos! All I know is I love that she sings for us each night!
I'm so grateful
for Bobbie, Grandma, Lani, and all others who are supporting me while I
am out here! Words fail to express my gratitude. In fact I had an
experience this week that really just dropped me to my knees in prayer
of gratitude. So as you know, I had a filling in my tooth fall out at
the beginning of the year. I was really blessed to find a member in the Pines Ward (my last area) who put in a temp. filling. She told me it
would last til I got home so I thought I was good! and she saved us a
lot of money. Well the other day I was eating noodles of all things, and
a big piece of that same tooth chipped off. I was worried because I
didn't want you to have to pay for it- I felt really bad. As the mission
nurse had me calling around different dentist offices, I remember one of
the YSA from my Palm Beach ward telling me of a LDS dentist here in the
area. It came as a stroke of inspiration. I called her up and got his
info. They got me in right away and he fixed it up quickly. I went to
check out and pay and.... they didn't charge me anything. It was
absolutely free. My heart swelled within me for the generosity of this
man. He is in the stake presidency and spoke two weeks ago at stake
conference. He also just moved into our ward and came to church on
Sunday here for his first time. I didn't even know what to say to him I
was just so grateful. I will send his address home next week so you can
write him a letter. I will be writing him one today.
Exciting
news! Elder Dallin H. Oaks is coming to our mission in a few weeks! I am
beyond excited! I can't wait to hear from him and to be taught directly,
in person, by an apostle. Sis Dougal leads the music at all meetings so I get to sit on the stand by her! yay! so I will be sitting by him on
the stand! woohoo! The temple is still moving along here. I can't wait
for it to be done! I wish it would be done by the time I leave but I
don't think that's going to happen! I really really really miss going to
the temple! I plan on going often when I get home. It's something that I
am going to make the time for.
We
are working with a couple less active families that are really trying
my patience. I've been praying for understanding as to why people go less
active. When people tell me why they aren't coming to church its always
the craziest excuses. I recently listened to a talk by Elder Bednar
that opened my eyes and helped me to know how to better work with those
who are less active in the gospel. I suggest you listen to it as well it
offers great advice.This month I am really focusing on charity. in
Moroni 7:48 it states, "My beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with
all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this
love(charity)..." As I have been praying daily for this God has really
blessed me with many opportunities to show love and compassion towards
others. After a meeting with a less active member yesterday, I realized
that God is answering my prayers and helping me to become more like him. She had fallen away because she didn't feel like her calling had come
from God. I was shocked, but strived to say and do what the Lord would do
in that situation. It helped me to remain calm and to fulfill my
purpose. I am grateful for opportunities like such to gain Christlike
attributes.
This
past week we only went on one exchange due to transfer meeting being on Wed. It was so nice! I loved it. Sis Dougal and I had a lot of time to
work in our area together and we were able to get a lot done. I went on
exchanges with a sister who is from Nigeria. She actually went to BYU-I
before she came out. We didn't know each other though. As I was with her
all day I got to know her and it allowed me to be humbled. She hasn't
seen her mom in three years or been home in five years. She can't e-mail
her family weekly because they don't have computers and she can't write them
because they would have to walk hours to the post office there. She
communicates through her brother that lives in the states. There are
people who go through so so so much more than I do. I need to be
grateful for ALL that I have. We had such a fun day together. We worked
one of my old areas in Palm Beach. The area that I opened with my
trainee. We laughed and had a great time! Being a leader can be hard at
times. I'm constantly striving to uplift, strengthen, and motivate
others. I love when sisters take what I share with them and run with it! It's a huge blessing to me.
By now I'm sure you've heard that Cheyenne and Matt had their baby boy. She has sent my many many pics and he is the cutest thing ever! I'm so
happy for them. Halie just emailed me and her and Mike are doing well! Her two kids are growing up so fast! I can't believe how fast time goes! Everyone here thinks Bri is adorable. I have her pics all over the
house-- we just love her here!
Thank you for taking the time to email me! I hope that you all have a great week! I love you to the moon and back!
xoxox love always
sis brooke johnson
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