My heart is three sizes too big!

Emailing at the church with the crew.

Happy Monday Family and Friends! 

      MY HEART IS SO FULL. (I can't tell you how many times I have used this phrase this week, seriously I'm just so happy. As the Grinch would say, "My heart is 3 sizes too big.") This week has been incredible. I just wish y'all could experience my weeks, days, hours, and minutes with me in the mission field. The people, things, experiences and miracles I see are so unreal. Every single day, without fail I can see the love God has for me. I truly know I have a loving Heavenly Father that loves me and is aware of me. Okay, on to the week... 

      Let's start with Jolene. When we first got here, we were calling people in the area book to see if we could set appointments up with them. We called Jolene, she is 20 years old, and she said she would love to meet with us. Here's a little of Jo's story:

She grew up in foster care; she never really had a stable home. She has a lot of brothers and all of them are currently in jail. She wanted to do something big to show her brothers they can too. She joined the Marines. She told us how hard it was and how she kept seeing God help her and the tender mercies he would give her. She ended up passing out and having to be in the hospital for over 3 weeks. She was discharged but they are letting her back in and she will be going to the Army now! She told herself she would find a church once she was home. She knew a Mormon girl growing up and went to some get-together/parties with her. She loved it because they were having so much fun, but didn't have any alcohol. So she had her aunt drop her off at our church in October. She really liked it and is excited to learn more. She works a lot but is so willing to meet with us and learn more. I love her. 

   Thursday was a particular day that things seemed to go very wrong and not in our favor. One thing happened after another, so the little things (we just look back at them and laugh because we are so ridiculous) seemed to be so big at the moment. It was a series of unfortunate events. This paragraph is here for your entertainment and for some laughter for your day. It started out being freezing cold. The weather is so darn cold here, so knowing it was freezing already start out not in our favor. You know when the weather gets below your age, it's a problem.  Haha we had a few cancelations, no one wanted to talk to us, we texted almost every sister in the ward to see if they could take us to the baptism Saturday and no one could and people getting mad. It seemed to be a domino effect. We had a dinner with a member that night but they had a meeting and had to cancel, but she said she would order us pizza and have it delivered to our house. We were SO EXCITED and couldn't wait for dinner. As we were driving home I jokingly said, watch our pizza not come. Well... I spoke too soon. The pizza never did show up. Hahaha we just laid on the ground or staring out the window for that hour trying not to laugh at our life. That was the cherry on top. Haha but... the good news was the weekend was absolutely amazing!! We look back and laugh because it wasn't even that bad of a day, now it's just funny! 

WAITING for our pizza to come.  

   McKenzie, our investigator from Chippy, the one who referred herself and got on Mormon.org, was scheduled to be baptized this week. Usually, in order to go to a baptism in your old area, you have to be fairly close and a member has to take you. I decided I would call President to see if I could go. What was there to lose right? HE SAID I COULD GO!!! I was so stinking excited. We started calling and texting people in the ward to see if they could take us. Nothing... no one could. Thursday night came and I was set on the fact I just wasn't going to be able to go. I was a little bummed, but understood because people are busy and it was a 2 hour drive. Friday afternoon we had a meeting with our ward mission leader.  After the meeting,Sister Wastlund checked the phone and saw that we had a text. A member said she would be able to take us!!! I was so excited. I only told Emma Claire and Sissy Fitt that I was coming. It was so fun to walk in and see so many people that I loved, it's only been 3 weeks, but boy have I missed them. McKenzie’s baptism was amazing, I love her so darn much. Her mom that wasn't a member attended her baptism and you could just see how happy she was for her daughter. I am SO grateful for the member that took us, she is a life saver. 

I LOVE McKenzie so much 

Emma Claire is one of my best friends 

It was great to see Sister Fitt again!

     I don't know if y'all remember Haley Cuneo. I taught her my first transfer in Chippenham and then she moved to Virginia Tech to go to school. She was a huge miracle!! Well, she and Missy (the other girl we taught) went down there and didn't meet with the missionaries because they were busy with school. But, I got an email last Monday saying that Haley was baptized!!!!!!! It made me so happy to hear that. I am so grateful I was able to meet her and teach her a little bit. I love when people make those covenants with our Father in Heaven! 

     We had Fast Sunday at church and someone explained how "mas" in Spanish is MORE. So look at Christmas and it means MORE CHRIST. Whoa, that is cool. It just really reminds us that we need to be more focused on Christ and those around us. Yes, presents are wonderful, but we need to remember what our Savior, Jesus Christ has done for us and remember His birth. We need to have MORE Christ. #LIGHTtheWORLD

Scripture of the week: Mosiah 2:17. We have been showing the Christmas video #LIGHTtheWORLD a lot. Every time we show that, it reminds me of this scripture. I have really learned and understood the importance of service on my mission. I know we are all God’s children, so when we serve His children, we are also serving our Heavenly Father! 

I LOVE Y'ALL SO MUCH! Always remember, Sister Brooks loves you!

Love Sister Brooks :)

There are old churches every where. It's cool! 

Face-mask time!

Thanks MOM! - for the pizza-
delivered while we were emailing and having zone P-day

Thankful to wake up each day, Home cooked meals, The Plan of Salvation!

Emailing with Sister Wastlund at the church. Hi Everyone!

Happy December! 

I can't believe it and I refuse to believe it. Where the heck did November go?? I am amazed how fast time goes. I remember coming out on a mission and people would tell me how fast it goes. Literally time was so slow, I thought I would be out on my mission forever. But right out of training, I can't believe how fast it has gone. They were right. But I can now see what they mean.  

     This week, four major things stuck out to me.  Some of them weren't super big, some of them have been going on my whole mission, but have really struck me this week.

     First one is the people in the great state of Virginia's prayers. I don't know what it is, this might be everywhere and I'm just noticing it. But when people pray here, it's so sincere and it’s like they truly are talking to a friend. I love how personal they are. One of my favorite lines that 90% of the prayers I hear say the phrase, "thank you for waking us up this morning." Every time people say that, it makes me stop and think. How lucky are we, that we get one more day to wake up to such a beautiful place, to get to be able to move, breath and go about our everyday life. Yes, we may have hard days, but we are alive. We need to be so thankful for that. There's a saying that someone would say down in Chippy, he said, "I don't ever have bad days, I just have days better than others." That has also really stuck with me and has helped me realize how much our attitude does matter in every day to day situation. I love that people are thankful for another day, because some people don't get that opportunity. 

      Second, beautiful three words..... Home cooked meals. Wow. I have really taken for granted nice, warm, home cooked meals. We would get some home cooked meals serving in YSA, but we ate out a majority of the time. I am so so extremely grateful for those who take the time and money to feed us, but being back in a family ward has made me realized how blessed and lucky I really am to be in family’s homes and eat with them. One thing I have loved is walking in to members houses and as you sit down they say, "This is the first time I have tried this recipe, I hope it's good." Thank goodness I am here to say they have all turned out well and I haven't had very many nasty foods! 

       Third, this wonderful plan our loving Heavenly Father has given us called the Plan of Salvation. I grew up learning about the Plan of Salvation, but all I could grasp is That We lived with God before we came here and will be able to live with our families forever after we die. But being on a mission, I have learned SO Much about it and the whole plan God has given us and how perfect it is. Every time I teach it, I'm in awe of how amazing and perfect it really is. It answers so many of life's questions and is the perfect map and pathway for us to follow. Here's a really cool story- We were teaching our investigator Donna. Her son was baptized almost a year ago and he introduced the last sisters that were serving here to his mom. She is reading the Book of Mormon on her own little by little and knows she needs to be baptized. This was our second meeting with her and we felt very impressed to share the Plan of Salvation with her. As we were explaining, we also had little visuals, she just started sobbing. She kept saying how amazing and wonderful this was and how it made her feel so happy and warm. After we were done teaching her, we started talking about baptism and how we loved her so much, we wanted her to come and be in the celestial kingdom. We invited her to be baptized (we like having investigators to church at least 3 times) and we looked at our calendar and December 24 was going to be when she could be baptized. We invited her to be baptized then and she got emotional again. She kept saying, "wow, that would be amazing to be baptized a day before Jesus Christ birth." She really liked it and accepted the date. Hopefully she continues to progress and work towards it. 

     Last but not least, my sweet and adorable companion. Oh my goodness, I can't tell you how much I love her. I am so so blessed to be able to be with her. They say I'm supposed to be training her, but she is incredible, I feel like I hardly have to do anything. We are so much alike and it's so fun. I love being with her. I am so so sad that I only get to be with her for one transfer, but thank goodness I can still talk and of course hang out with her when she gets home. Ugh. She's so cute, I am so grateful I am finishing my last transfer with such a cute and amazing companion! 

    Dee and Brian, the investigators house we went to for pre-thanksgiving, are doing great. We weren't able to meet with them this week, but Brian took off work yesterday, which is really big for him, to come to church! It was stake conference and they sure loved it. They are having us over tonight for a lesson and dinner. They are so nice!! 

If you don't know, I'm just going to tell you how stinking happy I am. These last few weeks, I haven't been able to wipe the smile of my face because of the joy and wonderful miracles I see every day. I'm a part of the most amazing work in the world. I only have a few more weeks to wear Christ’s name over my heart and on my chest each and every day. I won't be able to wear the badge soon, but I have Christ’s named engraved on my heart forever. I love him so much. He is my Savior! If you haven't already, you need to go watch the new Christmas video on Mormon.org. It's THE best two minute video you'll ever watch. I LOVE having iPads because we are able to show these to everyone we come in contact with. It is very touching and really shows us how we can be more like Christ and serve those around us every day. Being a missionary around Christmas is THE BEST!! 

Scripture of the week: 1 Nephi 11:20, I love how even in the Book of Mormon, about 600 years before Christ, that the birth of our Savior is prophesied. They knew a Savior was going to come, they just didn't know when. I am thankful for this Christmas season. Not only is it the best time to share and talk to people about Jesus Christ for missionaries, but it's a time we can reflect on how much our Savior does for us and think about his birth. 

I LOVE YA'LL SO MUCH!

Love Sister Brooks :) 

Zone P-day

My immaturity comes out in me when I see fire alarms.
 I just want to pull them so bad. Hahaha but I hold myself back.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Choose to be NICE!

New area, new companion, and new people to love! So much to be THANKFUL for!!

Sister Wastlund and I emailing at the church
and playing sports games for P-day

Happy Thanksgiving :)

   I seriously have so many things to be grateful for. I am so blessed. I have never been so happy in my whole entire life. So many blessings are coming my way and things are falling into place so wonderfully! Ahh, life is so amazing!

    I transferred last week and am now serving in Harrisonburg, VA. It's North West Virginia and so far, it has been so wonderful. I already love it here. The ward is YSA and family, so we are able to work with both, which is really fun. Best of both worlds!! We have James Madison University (JMU) in our area, so we can proselyte there as well. Thank goodness, because I LOVE working on campus. We have another set of Elders in our ward, they are the zone leaders, and they used to be strictly YSA, but since it is Thanksgiving break this past week and school is going to be out soon, we compromised and said that we could all do both. These elders have been very nice to show us around and tell us things we need to know, since we did white wash. #blessings 

    Now, let me tell you about my cute companion. I LOVE HER TO DEATH. Her name is Sister Wastlund and guess where she is from.... you guessed it, St. George, Utah :) She went to Pine View High School. She seriously is the cutest thing in the world. I feel like I have known her forever, which I haven't, I just met her 6 days ago. We have been having so much fun together already. This transfer is going to be so darn fun. She is so amazing; I am so impressed with her already. I am so sad I am only going to be with her for 6 weeks, but we can hang out when she gets home. 

   It was really hard to leave Chippenham, I seriously love that ward so much. I have met so many wonderful people and have made so many wonderful friends there. I will cherish and hold on to those friendships forever. I met one of my best friends there. I am so glad God sent me there; he knew I needed the people and those friendships. I can't tell you how much I loved serving with Sister Fitt, actually I can, I love her so much I'm making her come to Dixie State University with me and live with us, so I guess you could say I love her around the world 1948194 times. She is amazing, she taught me so much and has also become one of my bestest friends. It was also so fun serving around the Ap's. Holy cow, they are such wonderful missionaries and do SO many things for this mission.  But, thank goodness I can still talk, see and be friends with those I met forever. Reason #4321 why missions are amazing-the friendships. On Monday, there were about 15 of us who went out to a goodbye lunch for me.  It was so sweet for everyone to come and it was fun being with them before I left. 

     Now back to Harrisonburg... We received a call Wednesday from our investigators Brian and Dee. They have been engaged for 5 years and want to get married, but they are waiting for school to be over because if they get married, then they won't have as much money. (Lame) They were introduced to the church by one of our members; she works with Dee in a dentist office. They had us over Wednesday night for a pre-Thanksgiving feast. They were so sweet. Brian is a little more into what we have to share and LOVES the Plan of Salvation. He was so excited when we were explaining it to him. They are so darn sweet!! 

     Michelle is a recent convert; she just got baptized about 3-4 weeks ago! Wow, she is amazing. She truly wants to do everything she can to be better and follow Jesus Christ. She has some struggles, but knows God is helping her along the way. She is so strong. We met her on Friday and the spirit she brings with her is amazing. 

       We had a good Thanksgiving. We went over to a member’s house and they invited a recent convert, his wife and his mother, They were Chinese, so talking to them was a struggle. Haha but they were so nice to have us over and invite us in to their home. They had a little boy named Samuel, he is 7. After racing little remote control cars and playing Uno, we sat down and I played the ukulele, while he sang Christmas songs. It was the cutest!! He's my new best friend.  

    We have been doing some tracting lately.  I thought I would never admit it, but I missed it so much. It’s been so fun to knock on doors and talk to people again. I forgot how mean, funny, weird, sassy and great older people/families are!! It's been fun walking up and down streets and stairs talking about Jesus Christ. 

     We were out visiting some potentials and some investigators and we decided we should try Donna. Donna’s son, Cesar just got baptized a few months ago. She has been able to see such a big change in him and loves how spiritual he is now. He introduced her to the church and has met with the sisters once and has been reading the Book of Mormon. We asked her how she felt about it and she just paused and said, "It’s so amazing." We asked her how she felt about baptism and she said she knows she wants to; she just needs to get her answer first. She said she wants to take it a little slow, but when she feels the Holy Ghost, she won't be able to deny it. 

Scripture of the week: D&C 50:24 "That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day." I love how in this gospel we are always learning and we are always receiving more light and becoming brighter every day as we learn. We need to continue to learn, so we can shine the light brighter to those around us. 

I love y'all so so much! 

Here's my new address for the next few weeks: 

236 Rocco Ave. Apt. D 

Harrisonburg, VA 22801

Love Sister Brooks :)

Saying goodbye to Chippenham friends:

Recent convert, Marcus Grant

Shea McCart

Louis

 The Squad!


My New Area- Harrisonburg

We found a gorgeous park! 

We are the Double Dubs Crew- 

Double W- Waynesboro West Zone

 Elder Richter and Elder Williams, Sister Wastlund and Me

I'm going to have a baby! I'm going to be training! Yippee!!

Emailing at the church with Sister Fitt
 (for the last time before transfers)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!! (On Thursday) 

Holy smokes, I can't believe it's already almost thanksgiving. It's so weird to see all the Christmas stuff up and seeing all the lights, it's really crazy!! I feel like it was just barely Christmas and I was with Sister Tadd in Glen Allen.... but no!! This is going to be such a scattered email, but there are just so many funny/great things I want to share. 

   So we had transfer calls on Saturday evening, I AM TRAINING!! Sister Fitt is training as well. So we will both be having little babies (mission lingo, it's so weird haha) I am so excited. It's going to be such a wonderful last transfer.  I can't wait to tell you all about her next Monday!! I'm excited to be in a family ward again, especially for the holidays!! 

    I am so happy I have been able to serve in the Chippenham YSA ward. It has been so amazing!! I have learned so many wonderful things, met so many wonderful friends and have been able to see so many miracles.  I am so so grateful to be here and to be a missionary. But, I know my next area is going to be amazing as well :) 

Sister Fitt, Me and Colton

   The other night, we were contacting with Colton, (seriously he is amazing, and he drops everything for us and will come out and teach with us whenever we ask). We were walking back to the church and kept smelling all of these wonderful smelling foods. We walked right past Dominoes and literally our mouth watered. So of course, Sister Fitt and I don't mess around, so right after we got back to the church, we turned around and ordered pizza. Yes, we ate the whole box as we sat on our floor. Best choice ever. As missionaries, there's this thing called 6 months to sexy (trying to lose all the weight they have gained before they go home, as you can tell, I have not been participating due to random pizza runs at night) #6minutestosexy?

    Tuesday was super fun. We had Sister Mooney & Sister Purcell with us for the day since their trainers are going home this transfer and they went to the temple. So we got to go on splits on VCU campus and go nuts! They're also really funny and we had a blast. We were also able to teach Malcolm, an investigator on date for December 3rd. He's really great, but hopefully we can get him to church these next few weeks so he can still get baptized on that day! 

      On Wednesday, we started our morning by heading over to the mission home for a lesson! We had a less-active, Jeff, and his nonmember girlfriend, Stephanie, go over so we could teach them. We were able to teach them the Plan of Happiness and Stephanie really seemed to like it. President and Sister Smith also gave really good input as well, which is nice. The cool thing is when Jeff kept whipping out scriptures for her to read and at the end when he baptismally invited her on a specific date! The spirit was really strong. Later we taught this guy Louis... he was interesting to say the least. Let's just say his view of how God thinks of us is like how we think of ants. Also, when he prayed at the end, he prayed that we sisters wouldn't get robbed, stabbed, or beat up like everyone else in Downtown Richmond, which was nice. HAHA.

 McKenzie our investigator!!!!!! 

   Wow, oh wow, oh wow!!!!! Crazy cool miracle!! We got a referral the other day for this girl named McKenzie! She is probably the most solid person I have ever met on my mission. Her background information said she really wanted a Book of Mormon and to give her a call to set up a time to meet with her. We called her and she agreed to meet with us the following day. Wow, I can't tell you how amazing she is. She has had a lot of life experiences that has led her to the Mormon Church. Her mom even met with the missionaries a few times. She said she was looking for peace and comfort and she knew she needed to meet with us, so she referred herself on Mormon.org and chatted with the missionaries online. As we were going through the restoration, she was so excited to hear it all. We asked her how she felt about the first vision; she said she felt so much peace and knows she needs to go this route. We invited her to be baptized and she didn't hesitate at all!! She also came to church yesterday. She literally is the cutest thing. I have only known her for a day, but I feel like I have known her so much longer. I can't wait to come back for her baptism :) 

Scripture of the week: Mormon 9:21- I love this scripture because it tells us if we believe in Christ and pray and ask Him for the things that we need, if it is His will, He will let it happen and give it to us. I am so grateful for prayer and the opportunity we have to pray anytime we need to. 

I love y'all so so so much! Y'all are my fav! 

Love Sister Brooks :) 

Zone p-day. Going to the mission home. 

The Gang

Gelato Celesti with my best friends!

I love my companion, Sister Fitt!

My District

So many wonderful people in Chippenham YSA ward:

Lindsay, Me, Lindsay and Morgan 

Michelle Thomas, a recent convert! 

Investigator Chris! 

Lily

Emma Claire

Katherine and her boyfriend Alex 

Anna

Brittney, hopefully coming back to her wedding in April. 

The Boswells. They are so amazing!!!!!

Haley Phinney 

Lauren Crowley 

Jessie 

Cristhian 

Junior

Jessie again! 

Louis

Tawny

I love Tawny and Colton 

Jeremy