Sister Kaylee Brooks: Facebook Friend comes alive! (Many are called. . . but few are Sisters- Facebook group)

Emailing from the Church/Institute Building with my new companion, Sis. Fitt

Happy September and Happy Labor Day!!

I can't believe how fast time is flying! The weeks go by so fast, it is sometimes ridiculous. But the work never stops going strong here in good old Chippy :) We have had some wonderful miracles this week! I can't say enough how grateful I am to be a missionary and serve in Virginia. VA has my heart!

Well, to tell you about Transfers. You will never believe it.. I am with SISTER FITT!!! (I met Sister Fitt on Facebook before I left on the mission and we met in person in the MTC) I couldn't believe it when President said we were together. I may have cried a little I was so excited. It seriously is a dream come true. I remember talking to her before the mission and saying how cool it would be to be companions with each other. And now look at us, 13 months later I am with her. :) It has been nothing but fun with her this last week. We seriously are best friends and I am so so grateful I get to spend the next 6 weeks (hopefully longer) with her. As we were leaving transfer meeting last Tuesday, President Smith came up to us in the car and said out of all the companions that were put together, he feels the best about us two being together. Not only did we want to be together, but the Lord definitely knew we would be good together. I am so so excited to work hard and to continue to find so many miracles.

About 3 weeks ago, we talked to this girl named Jessie after church. I thought she was a member, but come to find out, she isn't. She had been coming to activities and church for over a year but never felt the need to be baptized. She went to school for youth ministry and was very involved in her church. We asked her if she wanted to meet with us and she told us she had met with missionaries before and kindly rejected. Well last Sunday, she texted Sister Johnsen and I and asked if she would be able to meet with us. We were able to meet with her on Wednesday. We had a member come with us and he was SO surprised to see that she wasn't a member. I'm sure half the ward thinks she is. She flat out told us she wanted to be a Mormon, but she wasn't sure she really received her answer. She has some things in her church (priesthood), that if she joined our church, she would have to give up. She doesn't want to because she has seen many miracles as she has blessed people and healed them. But, she loves what we teach. She also started telling us how she doesn't have a job; she doesn't have much money, can't even have her cat anymore because she can't take care of it and so on. Our member was perfect. He said he would take her out to dinner after the lesson and drive her 30 minutes just to see her cat. How kind of him. Later she texted us and told us she had an interview in Friday for a job at one of the high schools and then after her interview she would be driving up to Philly to go through the temple open house. She texted us Friday night saying she got the job!! And we talked to her yesterday and she said the temple was amazing; she even bore her testimony in relief society. Hopefully she will be able to recognize the Holy Ghost telling her the path she needs to take and she won't be scared to follow it.

We had MLC and zone meeting this week. I love being able to go to meetings and get questions answered and to know how I can be a better missionary. I feel like Heavenly Father knows exactly what I need to hear and to help me as a person and especially as a missionary. This week, we have Elder Kopishcke, a member of the seventy, coming to do a mission tour. Thursday we will be able to have zone conference and then spend the evening with him. I am excited to learn more from him. I am extremely lucky to have so many wonderful opportunities. :)

MLC

Scripture of the week: 1 Nephi 4:1- Sister Fitt and I did a training about faith in our zone meeting. We based it off a talk called Faith to Reap. It was given at BYU Idaho, if you haven't read it, you will need to. But in 1 Nephi 3, it's talks all about how Laman, Lemuel, and Nephi go and get that place. Laman and Lemuel showed faith as they went on the journey back to Jerusalem, but it quickly left when they weren't able to retrieve the plates. The first attempt when Laman went, he had no luck, he got chased out. Second attempt, they decided to go to their house in Jerusalem and get all their riches and see if Laban would trade the plates for the gold and silver. Instead, he chased them out and took all their money. In 1 Nephi 4:1, Nephi is telling his brothers that if God commanded them to get the plate, he was going to make it happen, God is mightier than all the earth. I feel like sometimes in life, God commands us to do things and we either, 1. Don't believe in ourselves or, 2. Don't believe or have enough faith in God. We need to trust God that he will help us through the commandments that He gives us. 1 Nephi 3:7 is a good motivation for that. Never stop having the faith in God and yourself :)

I love y'all so much. Hope you have a wonderful week!!

Love Sister Brooks :)