Hello everyone! Sorry, this week is going to be really short. But I just want you all to know that I am alive and well, and seeing miracles in the Crossroads Branch!!! We have been able to meet so many amazing people!! Right now we are working with a woman from Peru, named Maria (go figure) who is amazing!!! She has 2 sons, and is really just searching for the truth. She even came to church this week! Miracles! 

And the Branch was SO EXCITED to see Hermana Hales and I again :) basically every time we visit someone from the branch, or go to an activity everyone freaks out when they see us. Its awesome. They really know how to make you feel loved :) 

Oh, and being a Sister Training Leader is literally the most incredible thing. My capacity to love, understand, and serve continues to grow exponentially. It is truly amazing. 

Alright, well I just want you all to know how much I love my Savior Jesus Christ. No one or thing has ever done more for me than Him, and I am truly honored and blessed to be able to share the message of His love for each one of us to everyone I meet for 18 months of my life. You are all entitled to be loved and to be cared for. You are already loved and cared for. Jesus Christ suffered for ALL of us, not just me or that one friend that you know. He did it for YOU. Because He loves you. Let His light into your life and you can feel whole. Let His love warm you. 

I also want you to know that I love you. I love you all a lot. Don't ever forget that!!

-La Hermana Brooks

Buenos Dias!!! hello again everyone. I hope that you all had an amazing week full of love, laughter, and sunshine! I know that I did :)

Hermana Dilworth and I had an amazing last two weeks of the transfer. We were able to have more lessons than we have ever had before and really work hard at consecrating ourselves. I have been so very blessed these past 12 weeks to learn and grow and come closier to my Savior than literally ever before. It has been an incredibly trying and difficult journey, but it has been the most amazing thing of my life. I have come to love more and more deeply than ever before, I have become more patient and diligent, I have been able to become more bold and courageous in who I am and who I believe in. It has really just been so incredible. 

Basically, it is a little hard to concentrate and give you any specific stories or details from the past week of my life because TRANSFERS HAPPENED TODAY. Let me tell you, I DID NOT see this one coming. So last night we got the call that I was being transferred... Cecilia and Mario cried when we told them. It broke my heart, but also filled me with so much love. I know that what happens next with them will be what helps them into the waters of baptism and the temple. Tears shed with friends are spiritual tears....

Anyways, we get to the transfer meeting this morning GUESS WHAT?! I have been transferred back to the Crossroads Branch in Bellevue where I was born WITH Hermana Hales (my trainer who served with me in the branch who is also going home after this transfer:( ) AND Hermana Oliphant-a newer missionary who just got out of training. ANOTHER TRIO!!!!! oh my goodness, my heart is so happy and stressed and excited to get moving. Oh, and one more bit of news. This morning I got the call that I am now a Sister-Training Leader (with Hermana Hales) and will now have stewardship over the physical, emotional, and spiritual health of the sister missionaries in our zone. WHAT JUST HAPPENED TO MY LIFE. 

Really, I am so grateful and humble and excited to be here. Last night was super rough telling so many people that I love in May Valley goodbye. I know that it isnt goodbye forever. But any kind of goodbyes are hard. More than anything I will miss my dear companion Hermana Dilworth. We grew so close, and so much together. Really, I know that she was sent to me directly from our loving Heavenly Father. Right now, she has been called to continue the work in May Valley as well as finish training for a new missionary! 

Crazy things are happening in the Washington-Seattle Mission. We truly are doing everything we can to hasten the work of the Lord. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. I know that He suffered for me and through Him all things are possible. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the only true church upon the earth today. And I know that we can come to know that through reading and praying about the Book of Mormon. It will change your life as it has changed mine, and as it continues to change millions of lives around the world. 

I love you all so much and I hope that you have an amazing week. Make something happen. Chase your dreams. Reach your full potential. One of my favorite scriptures ever is found in the Book of Mormon, Ether 12:27 that says, "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weaknesses. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." Dont hide behind your weaknesses, but take them to the Lord. I can promise you that you WILL become strong. He has made me strong. 

You are all amazing and I love you so very very much!! Be on the look-out for miracles! 

con mucho amor,

la hermana Brooks

Hello dear loved ones!! Sorry that I do not have tons of time today, but I just want to give you a quick update for my week! Really, so many miracles I cant even describe to you! But trust me, the Lord is real, He lives, and He LOVES us. This week has only taught me that so much more, and for that I am eternally grateful :)

Key Points of my week:

-We were able to do TONS of service for an elderly woman in our ward who was baptized 2 years ago. Her name is Barbara Bolts, and basically she is the sweetest woman in the world. But she is also super duper old. And so she cant weed her garden anymore, which is where we come in! She called us last monday, asking us for help because she hurt her back trying to week a little bit that morning. And so we excitedly put on jeans (yay!!!!) and headed up to do some gardening :) and little did we know that we would see miracles from it! We didn't have enough time to finish, so we went back several times during the week to help her out. And then one day when we stopped by, her daughter was there who is not a member of the church. She had just had a knee replacement, so she couldn't help us in the yard, but she helped us find some more buckets to put the weeds in. And while she was helping us, she broke down in tears because of how thankful she was for the service we (and the church) were doing and had done for her mother. It was so touching, and really taught me that everything we do, even seemingly insignificant things like weeding a garder, can have very significant consequences. It was very humbling :) 

-We also went exchanges this week, and I learned a TON from our Sister Training Leader. We had SO MANY lessons, and met SO MANY prepared people just on the streets. It re-emphasized to me the great importance of really talking with EVERYONE we meet. You never know who the Lord has prepared to find the truth :) 

-Yesterday was an amazing Member-Missionary Fireside, where new converts share their testimonies of the gospel and how they came to find the church. I have been privileged to go to several of these now, and really they are just amazing!! We had the opportunity to sing with a youth choir a BEAUTIFUL version of "come thou fount" and the Spirit was so strong!! Really, testimonies of any kind, through words or music, are just so powerful . I challenge you all to share your testimony and belief of Jesus Christ with someone this week. It will strengthen you and the person you share it with, GUARANTEED! 

Sorry, I am out of time!! But I love you all so much and I hope that you have an amazing week. Dont forget to do the little things, like reading the scriptures, praying, and going to church. They are SO IMPORTANT and I can promise that as you give more priority to doing them throughout the week, you will see an improved difference. No matter what. You are all amazing. Keep it up :) 

I love you, I love my Saviior Jesus Christ. 

con amor,

La Hermana Brooks