Believing is Seeing

Wow... Great week, that's all I can really say! I'll get to that in a minute... Well happy anniversary!!! I had an alarm clock set for midnight so I could wake up precisely on September 2nd and celebrate!! Well, maybe not. But either way, 23 years, that's an accomplishment. I truly have gained a respect for people that truly honor their marriage and treat it like the sacred covenant that it is. Because you've honored those promises, I know that our (your children's) lives have been blessed. I've seen too many people whose parents get divorced, and there are so many hardships that ALL the family members go through. So, thanks for choosing the right one and stickin’ with it! ;)

Yeah.... you're going to need to find something less spendy. A much more fuel efficient car could be the Audi R-8, or a Lotus Elise. I'd suggest a black, or blue. Look the pictures up, I'm sure you wouldn't mind driving those around! ;)

Okay, I've gotta see a video of Brigham scooting around on his back! When you told me that, I was bustin’ up laughing. Oh my goodness. I was just about to tears! Man, that kid.

As far as cheap dates, my ward mission leader suggests baptisms. Spiritual and often times physical nourishment. haha good idea, eh? ;)

Eww. Tacos es no bueno sénior! Heaven forbid that we had to wear colored shirts two weeks ago. Well, maybe not so much, cause the sweat would have turned the whole shirt the same color. But yeah, I bet those meetings can be pretty toasty. But that's just what I envision.

Haha! Proverbs has to be one of my favorite books in the Bible. Funny stuff, but at the same time, very wise words of wisdom. Some of my favorites that I've read are about pride. Couldn't give you references off the top of my head though.

Well, I'm no longer the district leader. Elder Nelson that just got here is now the district leader. However, I still plan on being a leader; you don't need the position to be one. Besides, I can go to bed on time on Sundays now. :)

Ah, the Vikings game. The Vikes took the game, 31 to 24. I was pretty upset, the Broncos fumbled AT LEAST 3 times, with the Vikes picking it up for big gains. Not to mention that the Broncos had some sort of foul against them every set of down, except maybe one. Maybe. So yeah, they basically handed the Vikings the victory. BUT, it was fun and I got to see a lot of missionaries I hadn't seen in a while. I enjoyed the experience.

So, on to the great week! We got a few really great potentials! I talked to this lady and asked her about eternal families, and she said that she believed in them, so I asked her what she was doing to prepare her family to be eternal. So she told me that she reads the bible with them and prays with them often and goes to church with them. I told her that I really admired her family values and told her about the Book of Mormon and how it has helped my family come closer together, and she told us to come back the next day. We did, but she wasn’t there... grrr. But, she probably forgot.

The next guy is WAY cool! I talked to him on the street, he looked Middle Eastern, and Muslim, so I wondered if it was worth my time even trying to talk to him. So I did, and asked him if he had a faith in Christ. He said he did. Then he asked us what church we were from. We told him, "The Mormon church." He said, "Oh! I'm actually interested in joining the Mormon Church." We were just blown away! Turns out he is a refugee from Ethiopia and he saw one of the mormon.org commercials and checked it out, and got directions to the church, then we happened to talk to him! So we met him on Friday, taught him on Saturday, and he came to church on Sunday, and immediately latched on to another member that was from Africa, whose name is Suedi. So Suedi invited him over for lunch on Saturday, it was a dream come true, I tell you! His name is Habtamu. So humble, great guy all around. We'll probably teach him tomorrow. The Lord really blessed us with this one.

Plus, THAT SAME DAY, I got a letter from Christina, and she said that she is fully active and getting her family involved with the church, getting her son out to young men’s and whatnot. She had a great experience with Elder Barnes and said that she's been committed ever since. Wow. I couldn't have asked for a better day on the mission. Any doubts or fears, any bad feelings I had that day were totally washed away. I felt such a great peace and I love that sweet feeling.

Jason and Anna are doing okay. It's a long story, but Elder Grondel actually contacted Jason while Jason was in their area making sales! Come to find out, Jason has been, or has read a ton of Anti-Mormon stuff. The problem is the guy is just so dang smart!!! He has to get info from every source, so he did. But he's not turned off from our religion, he just haven't found proof, so he's not convinced. I think he didn't tell us all of this because he didn't want to offend us or hurt our feelings. I can't say it wouldn't have cause when elder Grondel told me, it was a stab in the heart for sure. We just need to help him see that faith is the only way to know truth. He has had some...other interesting experiences that will make it difficult. All I can think about is the story of doubting Thomas, who had to see Christ to believe. Even when he saw Christ, Christ still had to tell him to be believing. Even seeing is not believing. The morning I studied that entire subject, the Spirit taught me that important truth, again, another sweet experience. I learned that one special thing and it greatly bolstered my testimony, without faith, seeing will not be believing. Believing is seeing.

But that's the week. It's time for me to go!

Love
ELDER BROOKS