Instruments in His Hands

All is well!!

I totally forgot that sister Hoyal was going to call you! That family is pretty awesome! They have a son, Urry, that is on a mission right now, but for some reason I can’t remember where he is serving… But yeah, Sister Hoyal is behind the missionary work 100%.

That’s good that you’re finding places to fit a small amount of the Gospel in! That stinks that you can get fired that way… Oh well, that’s what I love about missionary work is that when I talk to people, I like to tell them that we are not here to tell them what to believe, or condemn them to hell, or cram our religion down their throats. We are simply there to share what we believe and how it has blessed our lives and our families and have them find out on their own, just between them and God, if it is real.

This week we taught a lady, her name was Lacy. She let us in and we gave her the first lesson, and then we answered her concerns. She seemed pretty receptive, but I don’t know how soon we’ll see her again. She hesitated to set a date for us to come back… : /

I did have something interesting happen on Sunday. Our church goes backwards, doing priesthood first, then Sunday school and finishing off with the Sacrament. But in priesthood, this guy walked up to me with a clipboard and wrote down “can you write down what they say?” I found out later that his name is Damian, and he was deaf. So I got to jot down the entire priesthood lesson. After the lesson, Elder Rush and I realized we had been writing to this one lady that was deaf, and she wanted us to come over, and we had no real way to communicate with her. I asked Damian if he was in town for a couple days and if he and his wife would come with us to visit her. He said he would, so now we might be able to teach a lesson to this lady! Haha - the only sign language I retained was sea turtle…

But on Wednesday, we had some members take us up to Hibbing, and then we walked around all day, talking to people and stopping by some others. It was really good, we taught Lacy, and we found a couple of other people that were willing to talk to us and find out more! Missionaries have had some trouble with Hibbing in the past I guess, but I really like it there.

I’d actually be glad to write a talk. I need the practice! I’ve been working on some spiritual thoughts lately that I could give to families to better bring the spirit into their home, so that little black journal you gave me is being put to use.

Transfers are today, and Elder Rush and I are sticking around for another six weeks! That’s good, cause we get along well and can teach together well too. We are working a lot on some things to be better missionaries. Man, I laughed the other day, I had serious déjà vu trying to get elder Rush out of bed! I felt right back at home trying to drag Cameron out of bed! Somehow, the harder I try, the sleepier they seem to get…

Today we are going to this underground mine for a tour. Brother Nankervis, or “the nank” as we call him, is taking us. Oh and P-days are going to change to Mondays next month, just so you know. Don’t know why, but it came from near the top!

We drive the gutless Dodge Caliber. Man I don’t know if it’s just our car, but that thing doesn’t even have an idle! It does have all wheel drive, very nice in the snow. In the mission we have Chevy Malibu’s, Toyota Corollas, and soon we are getting Pontiac Vibes.

So you squeezed info out of Cam? Haha! [Cameron had his wisdom teeth out of Friday. On the ride home, Mom was asking him some “personal” questions while he was in an “altered state”.] Very cruel, but humorous nonetheless. How are things going with Cameron? (since he is too cool to write his brother that misses him very much)

Oh and by the way, the mosquitoes are pretty crazy out here! We went out by a lake one day for dinner at someone’s house, and the mosquitoes were so thick I started to feel claustrophobic! I doused myself with bug spray, but they were even big enough to pierce my socks and get at my ankles! Bees, ticks, mosquitoes... but the scenery is so beautiful though, wow... Totally worth it in my book!

Elder Rush and I are doing all that we can to help Jesse. We haven’t talked to him for days, which worries me a little. He’s just been out of the house or something. He might just be a long haul. Keep praying for him, and for his son, Cole.

So we also taught this guy about the Book of Mormon, and he is from the Church of Christ. He said that he read and prayed about the Book of Mormon and said he didn’t get an answer either way. I told him that he wouldn’t get an answer until he had a sincere heart and real intent. It made me sad, because this is such an honest guy, but since he got a Book of Mormon, he has been trying to pick it apart and find places where it contradicts and doesn’t agree with the Bible. I told him that if he would just read it, and not pick it apart and try to find faults, that he would get an answer to his prayer. Whew missionary work is hard. Thank goodness for the best companion of all, the Holy Ghost. It is SO important for this work. I’m glad for the promptings I can sometimes receive cause I am not smart enough to figure some things and some people out on my own. I know that the gift of discernment is real! I’m so happy to be here doing our Lord’s work. I always try to recognize that this is HIS work and HIS time that we are on. We are just instruments in His hands. I hope that this people will soon be more receptive to the gospel. There are many people who are going to be compelled to be a bit more humble because of the economy up here. I can only hope that the Lord will soften the hearts of the people in Minnesota, not only here, but all over the world!

Love you all,
ELDER BROOKS