Hoar Frost

Wow... First off, let me say that that absolutely was a great story about Madison. I knew it was a matter of time before she started turning around. You know how those teens are. ;) Tell Maddie I'm really proud of her. Wow, that's a good quote about creation and organization. It reminded me of chemistry, that matter cannot be created or destroyed.  (The story and the quote that he mentions are posted below.)

Well, I still have to say, I like the cold to a certain extent. Some days I'm just done with it, mostly the nuisance of having to bundle up and un-bundle every time you go in or out. So time consuming! The last two days have been beautiful though. The sun wasn't shining or anything, and the temp dropped back down to 20's, but there was hoar frost all over the trees, it looks so amazing! All shades of grey, I think it's very pretty. (Hoar Frost: Frozen dew that forms a white coating on a surface. Also called white frost. ...I had to look it up - I didn't know that's what it was called!)

An update on the work... Brace yourself...
Okay, well in the last 5 days, we have found 5 new investigators!!! Hahaha!!!!! Wow, I just feel so blessed!!! Ah man, Elder Peterson and I decided to put our proverbial shoulder to the wheel, and we saw miracles occur!!!! Here's how it happened. Zone conference got us all fired up to work. Since Larry had just dropped us, we were short on investigators and decided we needed to really fill up our tile with tracting. So, at night we plan our next day's activities, and these few nights we had a 2-3 hour slot the next day that was not filled. So we filled it with tracting. We had prayed that the Lord would lead us and help us know where to go. So when we looked at the map of St. Cloud, we knew we had to tract some certain streets. Because of that, we have found one family to teach, the Young family, and we taught the mother and father on Saturday about the Restoration. It was one of the best lessons I have ever had. They were listening intently, and asked some questions. They invited us back on Sunday!! They are also really good friends with the Stanley’s in the ward, which is HUGE to be able to have the support!!!! Also, we are now teaching another family, originally from Minneapolis, Anita and Harlod, and their two kids, Tameela and Dontrell. (they are African American) Once again, it felt great to teach them because they asked so many questions and were listening so well!!! We are going back to teach them on Friday.

Elder Peterson and I are going tracting again today, we pray that we will find the same success. If nothing else, we have been successful in following the promptings of the Spirit, and have strived to courageously to follow through with those. So anyhow, I've been working a lot on my "door approach" and have found my confidence increasing significantly. In the mission, we try to ask people questions that spur their thinking. Things like "Have you ever wondered what the purpose of life is?" or "So many people have never heard the name of Jesus Christ. What do you think happens to them?" Things like that. As we've followed what President Howell has given us (and thereby the Lord) we have been extremely blessed. I give no one credit to the miracles we are experiencing except for the Lord. I've learned that I need to recognize and thank him in all that I do (D&C 59:21)

So things are going well. Something I've definitely realized is my Savior and Heavenly Father's unending, unfailing love for me. I make so many mistakes in my life, and yet, I always feel the comfort of His Spirit as I strive to do what is right. It's a testimony to me that our sins are promised to be forgiven in a number of ways and that because our Father in Heaven loves us and never wants us to be far from Him. I've never felt closer to heaven in my life than on my mission. It is so true that living the commandments is "living after the manner of happiness" as Nephi put it.

I've really nothing to say except thank you for "creating" the experiences in my life that have shaped me into who I am today, though flawed as I might be, because I am where I need to be right now.

I love you mom and dad
ELDER BROOKS

Dan shared these in his Gospel Doctrine lesson this week that Elder Brooks is referring to:

QUOTE: The Prophet Joseph Smith said: “The word create came from the [Hebrew] word baurau which does not mean to create out of nothing; it means to organize; the same as a man would organize materials and build a ship. Hence, we infer that God had materials to organize the world out of chaos—chaotic matter.”

STORY: Madison has been babysitting and earning money lately. She had $35, not a huge amount, but a lot of money for her. Mom was going to the hobby store and Madison wanted to go into the Dollar Store that was right next to the hobby store. Off they went, Mom in the hobby story and Madison in the Dollar Store. For some reason Madison had taken all her money with her, even though she only wanted to buy a few things. She had the impression to move the money from the loose pocket of her hooded sweat top to her front pocket, so she did. When she got to the checkout stand and they began ringing up her purchases she started to panic—no money. The line behind her was getting longer and you can imagine the pressure and panic Madison was feeling. The young clerk was nice, he set her things aside and even had someone help her look for the money.

She looked and looked but with no success, it was gone. She went next door to the hobby store and told Mom what had happened and Mom felt horrible—that was all of Madison’s money—gone. So together they went back to the store and looked for the cash but with no luck. Madison went to the car to look to check there and Mom actually stopped everyone by the front counter and in a loud voice said “Excuse me, have any of you found some bills around that may have been dropped? My daughter just lost her money, it’s a lot of money to her and we’d appreciate it if you found it.” (Those may not be Mom’s exact words, but it gives you a flavor of what she said) There was a woman who sent her two young children to check in the isles to help Madison but to no avail, still no money.

Mom’s biggest concern wasn’t that Madison had failed to properly take care of her money…she was prompted by the Spirit in another direction, she created an opportunity to help Madison turn something negative into something positive. (Mom will tell you it was the Spirit who really directed her to this next action). Despite Madison being upset, Mom asked her to focus on the people in the store. Most where people who were less fortunate than her, there were parent in the store buying food for their family—trying to make every dollar count. Those who were there seemed as if they needed help. Mom asked Madison to pray for two things: 1) Pray that you can find the money, and 2) pray that your money might be an answer to prayer for whoever found the money. That it might have been the miracle they were praying for.

To Madison’s credit she did just that, she prayed that her money would bless another—and so did we! Logan, you know Madison…she is still talking about not having a white dress for her 8th Birthday, she doesn’t forget easily. But this was different. We are convinced the Spirit comforted her and gave her peace. She hasn’t complained, she hasn’t wallowed in self pity—she’s been resilient! What a great blessing for all of us. In fact, Madison was called to baby-sit two days later and now has money again and seems very happy. Isn’t it incredible that such great lessons/learning’s come through such small means? Mom told me that story while I was away at my meetings and it brought tears to my eyes—it made me cry. I shared with Madison my gratitude for her prayers and her trust in the Lord. I have no doubt that someone’s life was blessed through this incident, I know ours were—and very richly.

I believe that she learned a great lesson about the gospel of Jesus Christ—we are here to bless others lives. Our lives should be focused outward, not inward. It’s really is true that we are most often happy when we follow the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ (See Family: A Proclamation to the World). This story has been and will be one of my favorites to tell for years to come. What a great teaching.