Staying Another Transfer!

Hello Everyone!

We don't have a whole ton of time today, but things are going well. We haven't seen a lot of success yet. We've had some good conversations with others and we continually try to help others.

We got our transfer news recently and I will be staying in the Rancho Bernardo ward with Elder Cullimore. This is his last transfer and we are both stoked for what lays ahead. 

We got heart attacked!

I really love serving here and being able to work with the members here as well. They are always so kind and very Missionary minded and it helps us a lot. Whenever we reach out for help, we receive a lot of guidance and assistance. 

I will leave you all with some fun pictures and send out a better email next week 

The church is true!

Elder Brooks

Making a music video!

Carne Asada Fries!

We also made some awesome sweet pork!

"Thy will be done"

It has been a refreshing week here!

Here are some fun highlights:

We had interviews with President Gimenez last Wednesday and then we had the awesome opportunity for him to come to our sacrament meeting too! Our ward invited him and Sister Gimenez to speak to the ward and the youth as well. It was so fun to see them so often this week. 

We had our exchanges with the APs this week and I got to be with ... Elder Day, my previous companion! It was a short online exchange, but it was still fun to catch up together. 

It's been a great week for me to be able to share my talents. Elder Cullimore plays the piano and so we are "capitalizing" on our opportunity. We did a musical number in church this Sunday for the ward (Faith in Every Footstep - Elder Cullimore played and Elder Brooks sang), we are both singing in a quartet for the musical number next week, and we are helping with a musical number for a Stake Priesthood meeting next week as well. It's been a great opportunity to do so. We are also trying to use our talents to find new people to teach. We set up a mini Devotional for this coming Sunday @ 7 PM cali time over Facebook. Here is the link to the event: https://fb.me/e/Pf3BVzjb Be sure to share it and invite those you know!

In my studies, I've been able to look again at President Nelson's talk from this past conference about faith. One quote that stuck out to me this time was, "Truly, faith is the power that enables the unlikely to accomplish the impossible." I pondered about our area here in the Rancho Bernardo ward. We are struggling and "unlikely" to find people to teach. But, through our faith we can find people to teach. Later in his talk, President Nelson gives an example of people on Pacific Islands having faith to ask for rain to stop for an outdoor meeting. On some islands, the rain stopped for the meeting, but for one island, the rain kept going. President Nelson relates this to how sometimes our faith is required in different ways. I related this to our area again and thought, "do we have the faith to persevere even if we don't find anyone?" 

It really made me think. Sometimes in life we need to have faith to accomplish something great, but sometimes we need to have faith that if it doesn't work out, that it is the Lord's will and that all will work out in His timing. Sometimes we need to humble ourselves and say, "thy will be done."

Stay strong!

Elder Brooks

"Have miracles ceased? Behold, I say unto you, Nay"

Hello everyone! It's been another quick week in the Rancho Bernardo ward!

Some of the beautiful scenery at our chapel!

We have seen some awesome miracles going on. One of the blessings of serving in leadership and getting to work with other areas is that you get to see the Lord's hand in those areas. We did an exchange with Mandarin speaking Elders in our Zone this week. Both of them are phenomenal Elders and we had a great time learning and studying together. There is a Mandarin group in our mission (this is alongside the Tagalog ward, the Swahili group, the Farsi branch, the Arabic group) and it was recently moved into the Mira Mesa area. This group doesn't have a lot of families, just a handful of individuals. During our exchange with these Elders, we discussed helping the group to grow (so strengthening the members, bringing inactives to church, and finding new people to bring). Then, on Sunday they had two random Mandarin speaking people come to church. They lived near the church and wanted to visit one day and happened to stop by when they were having the Mandarin sacrament service. They met the Elders there. Yesterday, the Elders had their first lesson with them and they are going to start meeting with this couple on almost a daily basis and they set a baptism date with them too!!! It is such a miracle for that group to have a baptism, which could lead to them becoming a branch in the next couple of months. 

Experiences like these remind me of Moroni 7:29 - "Have miracles ceased? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; neither have angels ceased to minister unto the children of men." There are so many miracles going on and we can choose to be a part of them as we do what's right and obey God's commandments.

We got to film a video in Balboa Park this week!

Our week was great. We have been doing our best to get out with the people and find new people to teach, but to really no avail. Those we have been teaching have stopped responding to us, which was a bit disappointing to say the least. Our love for the members has increased here though. It's been great to visit in their homes and to meet them and serve them in simple ways.

All in all, I am so grateful to be a missionary and even more grateful to be making better steps to become a better disciple of Christ.

Elder Brooks

A cali burrito for Cinco de Mayo!

A member of our ward gave us a Mother's Day treat!

"Remember the Greatness of the Holy One of Israel"

This week was crazy here in the Rancho Bernardo ward.

First, we starting teaching a lady named Karen. Her friend invited her to church and she came multiple times! We talked with her and she had some questions she wanted answered, so we were able to meet with her on Wednesday. She had many questions and we discussed lots about every part of the gospel. She is awesome and we sadly won't be able to meet with her for this next week, but are excited for her future. 

We did lots of zone work this week too. On Friday, we took a missionary to the airport (so he could go to his original assignment in Ethiopia), attended two district councils, and had an exchange, all before dinner! It was quite exhausting and probably could have been planned better, but we enjoyed being with the missionaries.

The San Diego Skyline!

We also got to help a lady at the park last Wednesday morning. Someone broke into her car, but we were able to help her file a report and clean up all the broken glass. Thankfully, nothing was stolen. 

Eating lunch at a park

Peanut Butter Cookies

One of my favorite parts of my studies this past week was reading 2 Nephi 9. It is probably my favorite chapter in the Book of Mormon. It talks about the plan of salvation, Jesus Christ and His Atonement, and the gospel of Jesus Christ (it's like they're somehow connected, go figure). I love verses 38-40. It talks about how awful it would truly be to arrive home to God dirty with sin. Jacob, the writer, warns and begs the reader to not get in to any awful sin that would cause such a scene. Then he says, "Remember the greatness of the Holy One of Israel." This being Christ. It truly strengthened the reason for a Savior for me. He truly did suffer all that so that we could return to God, clean and pure. I have been able to feel of His enabling power this week.

Elder Brooks

Our District at the Temple today.

Notes from our video call:

They knocked on a door this week - accidentally.  They were visiting a member and the GPS took them to the wrong house.  They knocked on the door and the man that answered said it was next door.