Monday, January 2, 2017

I will always be a disciple of my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

Last email day at the church. These next few days may be hard!


Happy New Year!!!!

     I can't believe another year has come and gone. I feel like 2016 just started. This year has flown by. I have had so many wonderful memories, between areas, companions, people I have met and wonderful spiritual experiences. I wouldn't trade this year for anything. Being on a mission has been the best thing I could have ever done. Being a missionary is the greatest calling in the world. 

     I was able to go on the Temple trip on Tuesday. Holy cow. I don't even know where to begin and how describe how beautiful and amazing it felt. I have truly missed the temple so much and I can't wait until I am able to go all the time when I am home. All the departing missionaries went. We went and did a session in the temple. Wow, it's absolutely gorgeous. I was in awe the whole time. The spirit that was there is so incredible. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face all day. Of course I have tons of pictures, so those will be coming your way. After the session, we were able to go around and look at the sealing rooms. Sister Smith took us in one of the sealing rooms and we talked a little. In the words of Sister Smith, "marriage is our next mission." I still feel too young for this haha. But I am excited to go home and to be in the House of the Lord. I really want to go work in the temple... so I'll be trying to do that ASAP. 







The group of missionaries that go home this week.
We had so much fun!  Great Day!
I found this Philippine Nativity. So cool!




      We were able to see Brian and Justin a few times this week. We were teaching them about the gospel of Jesus Christ and talking about how baptism is the first step and gateway to the straight and narrow path. We were done with our lesson and asking them if they had any questions, Brian was all serious and said, "Sisters, I've been praying and I really want to be baptized. What do I need to do and when can I do it?" Completely astonished, we explained to him the process and what he needs to do. We explained that we usually like them to come to church three times before they are baptized. We told him that January 21 is when he could be baptized. So he looked at us and said, "Okay, I'm going to work towards January 21." We asked Justin how he felt about it and he said he would work towards it as well. It is so amazing to see their faith. To see how much they have already grown with us meeting with them the past 3 weeks. We met with them a lot this week! They told us they were coming to church on Sunday. We waited for them and they never came. I was so sad. Announcements started and then the door opened and IN THEY CAME!! It was so awesome. Great way to end my last Sunday!  They really see that they need to change and want to become more like Jesus Christ. I am so happy I was able to meet them and be here for some of their journey. Thank goodness we can Skype now, because I can Skype in to some of their lessons when I get home.

      I can't and won't be able to say and describe how thankful I am that I have been able to serve a mission. It has been the best thing I could have ever done. I am so thankful for all the wonderful companions, areas, members, investigators and those that I have been able to work with. I have made so many wonderful friendships that I know will last forever. I am so lucky that I was able to preach and testify of our Savior Jesus Christ 24/7, to wear his name on my heart every day, and to be called by a prophet of God to serve those in Virginia. I am going to miss Virginia so much. It is my second home and I couldn't think of any better place that I could have served. I'm sure going to miss it so much.  But, going home isn't going to stop me from sharing what I believe with those around me and helping others come unto Christ. I will always be a disciple of my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. It's definitely been an emotional week, and it has just started.

I love you all so much!!!!!!! Thank you for your prayers, letters, emails, packages, and love. I sure felt it.  I will see you soon. 


Love Sister Kaylee Brooks :) 

Breakfast with Garrett. 




OUR DISTRICT. . . . . Crazy and fun!



HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2017
Because of it being New Years Eve we were "grounded" Saturday and had to remain inside starting at 5:30 PM. Sister Wastlund and I popped open some Martinelli's, cleaned a little, and went straight to bed. Missionary work is fun but way exhausting. I'll take all the sleep I can get!





My mom let me know that I will be home the same day that our bread expires. :)


My mom sent me these pictures of the missionary chart full of stickers.
 I will be returning home in two days.
  Two stickers left.

Monday, December 26, 2016

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Emailing at the church with Sister Wastlund

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

     It was so fun to see and talk with y'all yesterday. I sure do love y'all so much!  This week has been incredible. I LOVE being a missionary everyday but being a missionary during Christmas is absolutely amazing. I am so extremely blessed. I am so grateful I was able to spend one more Christmas on the mission. 

      We had our Christmas conference this Tuesday. It was so awesome!! Our whole mission got together. It was so fun to see my friends again and make more friends! The mission has truly given me so many blessings and meeting so many wonderful people has been one of those blessings. I have gained so many friendships, I absolutely love it. Our mission was just introduced to using iMessage, Skype and FaceTime to interact with our investigators. We are able to Skype members in to lessons and Skype our investigators to try to make daily contact with them.  It's going to be such a huge blessing. I am glad I was able to be a part of it for a little bit. Because it's such a big thing, we were able to have 3 people Skype in our conference. The first one was someone from Salt Lake missionary department. He gave us some training on how we can better use Skype and daily contact out investigators. The second one was Justin Anderson; he is University of Virginia’s football recruiter. He is helping coach with Bronco. It was super cool to hear from him and have him help motivate us. Then the best of all, President and Sister Wilson (previous mission president and wife) skyped in. AWESOME! It was so fun to see them. I sure do love and miss them so much. The rest of the conference was so great. We had over an hour worth of musical numbers. We and four other sisters in our zone, performed. It was such a fun day full of the wonderful spirit of Christmas.
President and Sister Wilson

With Sister Mooney


Hermana Sanchez 

Sissy

Hermana Stewart (she's from Dixie) 


Christmas Conference with the whole misson



     Our investigators Brian and Justin are doing so well. We have been able to see them a lot this week. We had a skype lesson with them and have been able to meet with them as well. We talked about the Plan of Salvation in one lesson and they LOVED it. They were asking so many questions and they loved how God has mapped it out so wonderfully and beautifully for us. I love being able to see the light bulb moments in people's minds and to see the peace and comfort the Plan of Salvation can give to them. 

     I love Christmas as a missionary. It seriously is the best time to be called as a missionary. Being able to have Jesus Christ the complete center and focus on Christmas is absolutely amazing. To see the love that our Heavenly Father has for each of His children is breath taking. Sometimes it's so hard for me to comprehend. I love these people so much, but He loves them 1000 times more! We are so lucky/blessed to have someone who loves us no matter what. Even with all of our faults! 

     We have been able to go caroling a lot this week. We went with the elders to an assisted living place. They LOVED us. Even though we didn't sound very good, they wanted us to keep singing. I think they liked the company as well. We were able to meet so many wonderful people and hear some amazing stories. Two ladies fell in love with one of the elders. One even danced with him. It was such a fun night. We then went to downtown Harrisonburg and sang in the "square" it was fun. I love being a missionary! 






    I am so excited; I am able to go to the temple tomorrow!! The only time we get to go is when we are returning home, so I've been waiting 17 months for this!! I can't wait. It's going to be a blast. I'm sure I'll have tons of pictures for y'all next week. 

    There's not too much to say this week. I talked to the family yesterday and told them a lot already! Next week I'll make up for it.. haha 

Scripture of the week: Luke 23:34- we have been talking a lot about forgiveness this week with investigators and recent converts. My favorite story of forgiveness is when Jesus Christ is on the cross and he forgives those who have done him wrong and have hurt him. His example is incredible. Sometimes it's easy to hold grudges and be mad at people. We just need to know that being mad at someone isn't going to get us anywhere. It's only going to bring us down. How do we expect God to forgive us if we can't forgive others? 

I love y'all so so so much. Have such a wonderful last week without me See you next week.


Sister Brooks :) 


Sisters in our Zone


Harrisonburg 2nd missionaries





Christmas Dinner :)



 Skyping with my wonderful family on Christmas Day.  
Best present ever!
My View:








My Family's view:







Merry Christmas!


Zone P-day. 
We had these things called miracle berries. 
They make sour things taste sweet. 
We ate straight lemons. It was so cool!!