Happy Thanksgiving!  (written on Thursday, Nov. 26)

President Gimènez changed out P-day this week to be today! That means that we had an extra couple of days more this past week than usual. And boy, was it tiring! P-days are definitely inspired.

First off, we had a mission tour! Elder Bragg of the Seventy spoke to us over zoom for three different days. We focused on three different chapters in PMG, Chapter 1 (About our purpose as missionaries), Chapter 9 (About finding people), and Chapter 13 (About working with the ward and stake). All were wonderful. I really loved our day about finding because we basically had a testimony meeting with the whole mission about the miracles that Elders and Sisters have been having to find people. It was a huge faith booster. 

Speaking of finding people, we found a new person earlier this week! His name is Steve and his wife is a member of our ward! We visited her to share a message and he joined in and participated in the lesson. We ended up giving him The Book of Mormon and we have a return appointment next week. It was such a miracle that we found him. First, we were calling through some of the Part Member Families of the ward to meet with them last week and his wife was the only one to answer and accept a message. Then, we showed up and the message we had planned was very inspired for the both of them to hear. Next, we had lots in common with them and it was easy for Elder Norris and I to talk to them. The Lord's hand is in the details.

We have also been working with Gusman to read from the Book of Mormon more. During one of our last lessons, Elder Norris, our Bishop, and I all sang "Secret Prayer" for him. It was an awesome moment and Elder Norris and I are singing more for others now. It's been a huge help in the work. 

We are working on a video with one of our friends for our Facebook page. We went and filmed a scene for it down near a town of Dulzura in our zone. Anyways, it was this super cool spot and we are hoping the video actually makes it to the end stage of posting it. I'll include a picture that we took down in Dulzura.

COVID in our mission has started to make it's rounds, so our mission just barely got new restrictions :( We can't eat with the members anymore (Thanksgiving in the exception) and we need to be wearing our masks at all times basically. We've had a lot of missionaries here in quarantine and even many test positive. 

But, on a positive note, I had a really insightful study that I want to share about. In D&C 4, it says that we must have an eye single to the glory of God. I thought about that a lot and ended up studying about eyes in the scriptures. The eye can be a symbol for our focus. Christ taught that wherever our eye is (wherever our focus is) is what will fill our body. If it is light, then our body will be filled with light and good things. I really think about this in regards to President Nelson's message. When we focus on what we are grateful for and focus on God's blessings, we are happier and our bodies, minds, and hearts can be filled with light. It's something I'm trying to get better at, but I know that it can bless your life. 

Elder Brooks

Elder Norris and I with the Swahili Elders

Cooking on the grill!

Tom is a legend. 
This is the cheesecake he made for Thanksgiving.

Notes from our video call:

A single sister in their ward had them over for Thanksgiving dinner.  Tom went with them.  The Swahili elders went to a different family in the ward.

They are still allowed to meet with members in their homes, but they can't eat with them.

Rebondissons!

This weeks title is a new word I learned in French. "Rebondir" means "to bounce." So "Rebondissons" means " let's bounce!" Elder Norris and I have been doing lots in French together and so our language skills are starting to improve a lot.

This week has been a crazy spirit filled week. We started off with a great zone conference. It was very focused on improving as missionaries and I learned a lot from the trainings. Elder Norris and I have made lots of changes to be able to make better goals and plans for the area, which has helped us to accomplish more in this past week. Also, San Diego County has been restricted more. For us, it doesn't change much, but we can't have church inside the buildings anymore. Because of this, President Gimenez has asked us to do a prayer every morning again. So, we pray together as a mission for more strength and guidance in the work.

The district after Zone Conference!

Last P-day, we encountered some bashers at Walmart. They tried to tell us that our gospel was different than that in the Bible. But it's the same. Anyways, it got to the point where one of the ladies raised up her hand at me and said, "Come out." I didn't think about it til later, but then I realized that she was trying to cast a devil out of me! I thought it was pretty funny. Elder Norris and I didn't take it all too seriously and laughed about it. I just feel bad for the Walmart employee who was trying to stock the shelves!

For church this past week, our bishop was very determined to have it outside, so we did! And, this week was a Swahili week! There wasn't a lot of members there, but it was still great! Before the meeting, I went to talk to some of the members with the little Swahili I knew. After struggling a little bit, one of the kids asked, "you speak English right?" And then I was instantly roasted in my Swahili skills haha.

The Swahili Sacrament Meeting!

We taught a lesson to our friend, Gusman this past week. He is struggling a little bit with reading the Book of Mormon. We have another lesson with him tonight, and we are hoping to learn how best to help him out. 

The reason I have my P-day today is because we have a General Authority doing a mission tour over zoom these next couple of days. It's going to be Elder Bragg who comes and we are all really excited. Then, next week, President has made our P-day to be on Thanksgiving, so these weeks are all so different and moving fast.

This past week, has been such a great testimony strengthener. I was to write you and let you all know that this gospel is true. One of my favorite parts of each day is to read from the scriptures. I love the Book of Mormon because it brings peace and clearness of mind. Really studying it has brought me inspiration from God and greater direction in what I need to do in my life. I also love sharing this with others. Teaching was very stressful in the MTC, but is now the highlight of my week. Being able to share my testimony has made it stronger and more firm in determination. This gospel really does bring lasting happiness like nothing else can!

At the office for interviews with the President!

Elder Brooks 

Notes from our video call:

The mission conference with Elder Bragg will be done through Zoom with meetings each morning.

San Diego County has moved to the Purple tier for restrictions (the most restrictive).  The only major change for the missionaries is that they can't hold church indoors.  Schools are closing again and restaurants are not open for dining in.

"Its like a social security number, but ... for dead people"

The title of this weeks update comes from a conversation I had helping a man out with his family history. He had a question about what the identification numbers mean for each person on FamilySearch. So the best way I could think to explain it was "it's like a social security number, but ... for dead people" So Elder Norris and I had a great laugh about it. 

Recently, Elder Norris and I have had to drop some friends from our teaching pool. Satan is hard at work hardening hearts. It is always pretty sad, but we're hoping to find more people who are more ready for our message. And, we've been able to see some miracles too.

We helped serve a lady with her yard and she wanted to take us out to lunch. So we went out for lunch on Friday. While there, we talked a lot about the gospel (she had a lot of questions for us) and Tom (the member we live with who was with us) asked her if she knew about the Book of Mormon. She said no, and then he asked if she wanted one. She said sure! So we ended up giving her one and referred her to the missionaries over her area (we helped her at her mother's house, not her house). She was so prepared in so many ways and we hope and pray she continues to learn more. 

We had exchanges yesterday and I was with Elder Xiong. We had a pretty awesome language study with the Swahili Elders here. We read 1 Nephi 8. I read in French, Elder Xiong in Thai (he was reassigned from Thailand), Elder Ostheimer read in Swahili, and Elder Spackman read in Lingala (a tribal language from Congo). Nobody understood anything, but it was pretty cool regardless.

Elder Xiong and I after exchanges.

Elder Norris and I have been using the Book of Mormon a lot more too. We have been making it a big focus of our teaching and it has strengthened my testimony of it. (We challenged Gusman last night to read it every day and we sure hope he does!) I feel such power from that book. It holds such a simple message, but so complex to be able to study it for years. It truly is a miracle of a book that teaches us more about who God and Jesus Christ are and how we can return to them. I love it. The Book of Mormon really does help us to move forward and make sense of life. Read it!!!

Elder Brooks

A member's cat climbed on us during our lesson this week.

Hachi (our dog) and me

Blueberry Muffins

A member works for Oatly (oat milk).
We had an ice cream taste test after dinner.  Good stuff!

Notes from our video call:

The lady that they did service for found their service ad on Facebook.  She already had a lot of connections to the church.

They are teaching people in French Guyana (from Elder Norris' mission) and Madagascar (referral from Elder Hansen in Texas).

Power to our Prayers

Hello from the Granite Hills Ward!

In case you missed it last week, I was transferred to a new area east of San Diego in a city called El Cajon. We live with two other Elders (they speak Swahili) and a member. Also the member we live with has a husky named Hachi and she is a super fun dog!!!! My companion, Elder Norris, and I speak French. We live in a pretty ethnic area and so our Zone has some of the craziest languages. We have missionaries who speak English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Swahili, Arabic, Farsi, and even Thai! The gathering of Israel is happening!!! (That also doesn't include ASL, Lao, Tagalog, and Mandarin languages spoken here in our mission as well)

Elder Norris and I

For our area, its going pretty well. We are teaching a good handful of people. Most are either from the Congo or from Haiti and both speak French. We visited Gusman and his family this week. They even came to our wards trunk or treat! (Elder Norris and I dressed up as Men in Black, but we didn't have black suits or ties, so it became Men in Gray with Purple ties) He speaks French and it made me so happy to speak it again! Thankfully, the transition hasn't been too crazy and I've been able to understand and communicate effectively. It's been really nice to be with the African people again :)

We are also helping to teach someone from French Guyana who Elder Norris found when he served there. Her name is Onika and she is so close to baptism! 

We also ate Canes this past week for the first time and it was heavenly 

Eating Canes!!

3 missionaries in my mission also have COVID...

We didn't really do much festive stuff for Halloween, but we had one trick or treater come! And now we have the rest of the 5 gallon bucket of candy to eat 

Men in Gray 

At our Trunk or Treat

A famous Julian Pie from our Members!
Elders Spackman, Ostheimer, Brooks, and Norris

Church here is also crazy. One week is English and the next week is Swahili. This past week was English and next week is Stake Conference, but then it will be the Swahili week!

One of my new favorite scriptures is D&C 8:10 which says 

"Remember that without faith you can do nothing; therefore ask in faith..."

Such a cool principle. Faith is like a battery that helps to power our prayers. I have received answers to my prayers, and not always like I have hoped, but asking and receiving in faith always bring blessings.

Kinda a crazy email, but it's been a crazy week! Love you all!

Elder Brooks

Notes from our video call:

Elder Norris is from Logan and has been on his mission a few months longer than Jonah.  He was originally called to Barbados and French Guyana.  He and another Elder from Ivory Coast opened this French area when they arrived in the mission in May.

Elder Spackman (one of the Swahili Elders that lives with him) is from Orem and went to Timpanogos High.

They teach a Book of Mormon class for the members of their ward each Wednesday evening.