Week 36: Planning for Eternities

Megan's a senior.

Nathan's a teacher.

Rachel's a missionary.

And my parents are awesome.

Life is pretty great.

This was an incredible week. Lots of miracles. I've never been so tired, and we worked harder than I ever have before on my mission, and it was amazing! I can't wait to be this tired next week, too :)

First off, I want to wish a very happy day-late Father's day to all the amazing Priesthood holders in my life! I am so grateful for your examples and for your willingness to always do the Lord's will. Especially my dad, who is basically the best dad in the entire world. I love you all so much!!

Now for this week's instant replay:

Tuesday was our temple day at the Bountiful Temple!!! It was so fun to drive through my old area to get up there :) I love the temple. I love being reminded of the covenants, or promises, we make with our Heavenly Father when we go there. I love the peace, love, and joy that we can feel when we attend the temple. I know that we can be together as families for eternity. I know our Heavenly Father loves us! I know the Atonement of Jesus Christ is real. I know that we can be healed, strengthened, and uplifted as we turn to Him and rely on His grace.

Wednesday, Sister Bill and I headed back up to Bountiful for a special meeting with Brother Donaldson of the Church missionary department. We discussed the importance of the short, simple lessons using the pamphlets and other resources, but we really focused on the principle of planning. Everything we do outside of teaching should be planning. Scheduling is simply a function of planning - there is so much more involved in the planning process. We need to constantly be focused on our area and the people we serve. There is no better work for us to be involved in than that of sharing the gospel with our fellow brothers and sisters. And we can only accomplish the Lord's will for these people by taking the time and energy to plan for them. To know what they need, to seek revelation, to decide what to share, to know how members can help, to know where we should go to find people. 

Everything comes back to the time we spend planning. The most important point made, though, was this: We aren't just planning for a lesson or activity or whatever it is we have scheduled. We plan for their eternities. These lessons, the Spirit felt, the testimonies shared, all of these things contribute to whether or not the people we teach will decide to follow the example of Jesus Christ and make covenants with God. 

Needless to say, we've been watching the planning training videos A LOT this week, and we've seen amazing things happen as we've really applied the principles learned from trainings and meetings. I love going forth and applying the things I learn each day, whether it be in a study or from pondering or from a meeting. 

Two experiences to share this week: 

We found an incredible new investigator - Ally - through a media referral. She's been going to church for a while with one of her friends who lives in Layton. We walked in and she said, "So how do we do this? I want everything!" It was amazing. We sat down right then and taught her the first lesson. She committed to be baptized! The Spirit in the room was so strong. You can tell that she knows it's true, and she desperately wants to do all that Heavenly Father has asked of us. We asked her what stood out to her about the Church, and she testified of the cleansing power of the Atonement and how she knows she can repent and change to ultimately return to live with her Heavenly Father.

We also had an amazing Temple Square visit with Lisa, one of our recent converts. She LOVES the gospel, and is always seeking to learn more. We went and saw the Joseph Smith movie. I know Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. I know he restored the true gospel of Jesus Christ on the earth. I know that we now have the Priesthood, the authority of God given to men to bless His children, on the earth so we can perform those ordinances necessary to return to our Heavenly Father. My testimony was strengthened of the truthfulness of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ this past week, and especially of the prophet, Joseph Smith, from that experience with Lisa.

I know this gospel is true! I know the Book of Mormon to be the word of God! I know we will grow closer to Him as we read and pray every single day and do those things He has asked us to do. I love my Savior, Jesus Christ. I know He lives! I know He loves us. I know our Heavenly Father is always watching over us. I know we are in His hands. I know He loves us more than we can ever comprehend. I know it because I have asked for myself. I invite each of you to take the time and to ask, to kneel and pray, and to ask if God is watching over you. I promise if you ask sincerely, He will let you know that you are never alone.

I love you all! Remember to smile and to look for the miracles in every day :)

Love,

Sister Holbrook 

the old one

Mormon 5:21,23

Ether 12:27

I love the temple. And my companion :)

Me and Sister Tucker at Bountiful Temple.

The four Wells Stake Sisters at the Bountiful Temple.

And this is the day I walked out of the house wearing two different shoes. This is why we have companions.

I love the Salt Lake Temple!!!

Week 35: You and me, we're in a club now!

After trials cometh the blessings. 

What a true statement. 

We had an incredible week! We worked harder than ever before, and we saw lots of little miracles. I'm excited to go forth this week and work even harder. Continual improvement leads to continual miracles. 

Maya. This ten-year-old girl lives with her mom most of the time and stays with her dad on every other weekend. Her mom is baptist and very against the church. Her dad is a member of the bishopric in one of the wards where we are serving. We have FHE with them every Monday. And this week's was incredible. 

We taught the Plan of Salvation, but Maya doesn't believe in the pre-mortal life. We were able to find out some of her deeper concerns, and ultimately testified of our love and of God's love for her. We really want to help her realize that this is something she has to figure out for herself - she can't let her parents force anything on her. She has the desire to read the entire Bible and then the Book of Mormon so she can compare the two. She is incredibly smart, and just wants to know what the truth is while she has these two conflicting voices around her.

We are praying that in our lesson with her today, we can help her recognize that she is a child of God who loves her more than she knows. And we'll see if we can help her to read the Book of Mormon. 

The Johnson family. Bro. Johnson has been having a lot of struggles the past month. He is a returned member who has become one of the strongest members of the ward. But then he's had trial after trial after trial, mainly with a foot infection that could still potentially lead to him losing the foot. We've been going over to check in on him and his two kids, as well as another guy who lives there who is another recent convert who helps Bro. Johnson take care of his kids. We were making no head way in inviting him to read and to pray every day. He had lost all of his hope, and he had no desire to act on the particle of faith he had left.

But then, a few days later, we get a text from him saying he read the Book of Mormon! And he watched a few Mormon Messages (LOVE THOSE) and had been praying a lot more. As we've gone back to see him several times this past week, you can see a light about him that wasn't there before. His faith and hope have been restored as he has chosen to take those actions to do the little things of praying and reading.

I know the Book of Mormon is true. I know we can come to know our Savior, Jesus Christ, even more closely as we read that book. I know we will feel the Spirit in greater abundance in our lives as we make reading the Book of Mormon a daily priority in our lives.

We ate a lot of Chinese food this week, had lunch with one of the office senior sisters (LOVE her so much), contacted a ton of people, helped solve people's problems, organized our paperwork, had an amazing zone meeting about planning, and enjoyed a beautiful Sunday full of inspired speakers.

I love this work. I love being a missionary. I love being so involved in the work of the Lord. I know this is His work, and because it is His work, we cannot fail. I know we can receive revelation for our stewardships - the places and people that we have been given responsibility over. I know the Holy Ghost testifies of the truth. I know Heavenly Father is there, waiting to bless us. He only asks us to obey. I know miracles happen because of our daily obedience. 

I love you all. I love this gospel! I know it is true. I know the Atonement of Jesus Christ is real. I know as we choose to rely on Him and His way, He will lead us where we need to go and give us the strength we need in every single day. 

I love you! Remember to smile!

Love,

Sister Holbrook

Mosiah 4

John 13:17

Chapter 1 Preach My Gospel. The best.

I HAVE A GRAPE SODA PIN. And it was basically one of the best moments of my life. I'm in the club now :)

(the grape soda pin is a reference to the movie Up)

Me and my darling companion, Sister Tucker.

Week 34: Refining Moments

So last week's email was pretty fantastic. And there's just no way I can top that. And I have a few things I have to take care of today for my mission president. 

Basically: this is going to be a super duper short email that will mostly be my testimony. 

All of our investigators had their lives blow up. Same with most of the recent converts, too. And I can't really share any details because of confidentiality issues. But basically anything you can imagine before someone dying is what happened to every one this week. And it's been intense. And we've been put in the middle of it all. There is only so much we can do, and there is so much more to do to become the missionaries God wants us to be. 

On top of it all, I tripped on a sidewalk that tried to eat me and now have two skinned knees and large bruise on my cheek. 

The moral of the story: this has been an overwhelmingly refining week for Sister Holbrook. And it will continue to be.

1 Nephi 20:10 "For behold, I have refined thee; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction." 

Our job as missionaries is to go forth and preach the gospel. The hardest part of missionary work is remembering that people have their own agency, then seeing them utilize their agency in less-than desirable ways. We show them, we teach them, we help them, and they still won't do anything about it. They lose their hope and their faith, and expect us to solve everything. We can't.

2 Nephi 2:27 "Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself."

It is incredibly frustrating when people don't choose to exercise faith and call upon our Heavenly Father for His help. I cannot even imagine how sorrowful that makes our Heavenly Father. But there is an amazing thing: Christ suffered for each one of us, regardless of if we choose to accept His Atonement or not. He loves us so much, and He is just waiting to help us. We simply have to choose to rely on Him, to trust in His plan and timing, and to do the things that He has asked. And those things really are not that hard, because when we do them, we are promised His help.

I know that when we put our trust in God, He helps us. When we call on Him in faith, believing He will answer, He helps us. He is always there, reaching out to us. It is up to us if we will reach back to Him.

I really do love this gospel. I love the peace, hope, and true joy that it brings into my life. I love being a missionary! I would not trade the experiences of this past week for anything. The Lord continues to shape and refine me into the daughter He knows I can become. And He does the same with each of us if we will trust in Him. 

Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding; in all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths." 

I love my Savior. I love my Heavenly Father. I can see their hand in every single day as I actively look for those miracles. I know He is there. I know He loves us. If you haven't recently, or ever, please take the time to kneel and pray. Talk with your Father in Heaven about life. Thank Him. Ask Him for His help. You will find answers and peace in your life.

I love you all! Remember to smile, because life really is a wonderful thing!

Love,

Sister Holbrook

Mosiah 4:11-13

Doctrine & Covenants 8:10

Ridiculously deliciously massive breakfast at Penny Anne's. #oops 

The top of Ensign Peak with Sister Lwin!! Woot woot!

Week 33: Mattresses, machetes, and miracles.

Well I have a lot of thoughts. And then I opened my email to amazing news about Rachel's mission call and basically erupted in happy screams and tears. And it's been an incredible week of miracles and emotions and testimony building and Preach My Gospel studying.

The gospel is true! That's basically the message of this whole weekly email. I cannot imagine my life without the hope of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, without the knowledge of God's plan for us all to be eternal families, without the gift of the Holy Ghost guiding me in everything. I love the Book of Mormon. I have gained such an amazing appreciation for this gospel the past few days.

I just have a few miracles from this week to share with you:

Cynthia. We were in Walmart getting water because we ran out when we got a text from Elder Larsen telling us to call Cynthia as soon as possible. So we call her and she asked, "What do I need to do to be baptized?" BEST PHONE CALL EVER. So we were talking with her in the middle of Walmart and our phone died. NO. So we ran around the store like crazy people trying to find someone who would let us borrow their phone. Anyway, we ended up calling her a little alter and setting up an appointment.

A sister from the ward came with us on Saturday morning to the lesson. Cynthia had so many questions, but her faith is so strong. We reviewed the baptismal interview questions with her, and even though we need to still teach her most of the lessons, she knows it's true. She asked about her daughter who passed away at age 3 and her dad who passed away when she was young and never accepted the gospel. As we taught her the Plan of Salvation and promised that she would one day see them again, the Spirit in the room was incredible. Sister Tucker bore simple, powerful testimony that we will be with our families for eternity. The sister from the ward bore testimony that helped calm Cynthia's fears. It was one of the most incredible moments of my mission. I love this gospel. I know it is true. I know we will be with our families in eternity as we strive to obey the commandments here. Cynthia chose to be baptized on June 7th, and her husband wants to be baptized as well, though his testimony is a little slower in coming. They are absolutely amazing, and I love them so much!

Brooke. I have really been focusing this week on putting myself and my fears out of the way in talking to absolutely everyone. We were grabbing a snack after correlation on Saturdaynight and there were a few people there as well. I talked to one guy, and then I was talking with the other missionaries about the stake. Then this girl walked in and I just felt like I needed to talk to her. We talked for a second, and it turns out she's been wanting to meet with missionaries for a while and hasn't known how to go about it!! We took down her information and sent it over to the missionaries in her area.

Moral of the story: open your mouth. Never postpone a prompting. People need the gospel and peace it brings to our lives. 

And now for the less spiritual side of this crazy week:

First off, while waiting for companions to finish emailing last week, I clicked back in some part of our family tree on familysearch.org and found out that not only are we related to Uther Pendragon (read a Camelot legend if you don't know who he is) and some guy named Theseus, but that particular line goes clear back to Adam.

Moral of the story: do your family history and find awesome things like that.

Funny story: Primary kids. We were invited to sing a song in a six-year-old class yesterday. And they were so cute. And they talked about how they could call the cops or Batman if they were in trouble, so the teacher said they should call Heavenly Father. Then I was asked to play piano for Primary singing time in another ward because there were no pianists there. We sang "The Family is of God" probably eight times. And I played "Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam" for the sunbeams. Best day ever :)

Funny story numba two: awkward run in with the mission president. Twice.

First time, we had to grab something from our Bishop who happened to be in a bishopric meeting while the missionaries who were leaving were just getting out of their testimony meeting. At the same building. So everyone thought we were just crashing their party when we were actually attempting to do missionary work. But we got to help out Sister Hansen a bit, so that was fun.

Second time: we get to the machete story.

We were cleaning out our apartment of Elder relics this week since we needed to, you know, LIVE there. As we were cleaning, we found a machete and a hand ax. Seriously. Majorly lethal weapons in a missionary apartment. No bueno. So the next day we obviously took it all over to the mission office. BUT there was no parking at the mission office. Which meant we had to park over at the church building and walk down the street carrying a very suspicious looking package - a machete and ax wrapped in a filthy T-shirt we also found under a bed. That was fun.
But of course, as we're walking up to the mission office, who should pull up but President and Sister Hansen. They were happy to see us but heading to a meeting. So they walk in to the mission office and we're behind them in the doorway. 

Sister Hansen turns around and looks happy to see us then gives a puzzled look at our package.

"What's that, Sisters?"

"Uh, lethal weapons left by the Elders."

"Oh, what Elder left a bee bee gun this time?"

"um, it's a machete. And a hand ax."
At this point, President Hansen turns around and they both look extremely concerned that these two sweet sister missionaries have discovered a machete in their apartment.

"a MACHETE?! What Elders lived there?!" -President

And then the entire office staff joined in making up stories about the history of the machete.

Love life.

Fun experience with the Smith's of this week: throwing 20 year old mattresses over our little porch down to the truck. Basically the best experience of my life.

We had one of our investigators kind of disappear in Texas. So that's fun. And we're really focusing on finding more and trying to utilize the ideas on page 162 in Preach My Gospel in helping the members be involved. There you have the life of Sister Holbrook. I hope you all enjoyed this highly intense and slightly concerningly emotional email. 

Mission life really is the best. I love this gospel! I love being a missionary! There is nothing better than being engaged in the work of the Lord.

I love you all! Have a fantastic week! Remember to smile and expect miracles!

Love,
Sister Holbrook

This talk by President Packer is amazing.

Sister Taylor and Sister Pearson weren't there, but here are the rest of the sisters in the zone!! We have such a blast together haha

Our zone: Elder Fearnley, Sister Jacobson, Sister Cox, Elder Gonzalez, Elder Taylor, Elder Unklesbay, Sister Bill, Sister Tucker, me; front row by face: Elder Westlund, Elder Thevenin, Elder Nelson, Elder Whittle

Love them all.

So we were cleaning out our apartment, right? And we found a machete. And a hand ax. But the machete is the important part here.

So then we had to take the two lethal weapons to the mission office. And of course there was no parking at the office because they were in the staff building so we had to park down the street and walk to the office while carrying a very suspicious looking package wrapped in a T-shirt we also found underneath one of our beds.

Me and Sister Smith. I love the Smith's so much. And they helped take away all of our Elder relics. So wonderful. She also told us we should keep the machete if we had plans to go bushwacking or sword fighting so we could brandish it high above our heads for protection. Love her.

Week 32 (WHAT?!): Transfers and Long Weeks

The results are in and...... duh duh duh....

we're all staying!!!

Sister Bill will be greenie-breaking (having a companion who just finished her 12 Weeks of training) and me and Sister Tucker will move back upstairs!

Sad. But at least we're all still together!!!

Mom's synopsis of our skype conversation (was that really only a week ago?!) was fantastic. Thanks for all the laughs! I love you all more than you know!

Like mom mentioned, I don't really have time to get discouraged. Yes we have our bad days, but it doesn't take away from the joy of being involved in the work of our Heavenly Father. In Preach My Gospel page 11, it says, "When you have done your very best, you may still experience disappointments, but you will not be disappointed in yourself. You can feel certain that the Lord is pleased when you feel the Spirit working through you." When I give my best every single day, I can sleep well and still be joyful in being here, because I know that this is the Lord's work and no greater joy can come than through His Atonement. 

I love Alma 26:16: "Therefore, let us glory, yea we will glory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice for our joy is full; yea we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel." Perhaps that's why emailing is so stressful - there is no way to put into words each week the miracles, joy, and experiences that I am blessed to be a part of every single day. 

I love being a missionary! I love my Heavenly Father! I love my Savior, Jesus Christ! I know that through His Atonement we can become clean and whole. I love the restored gospel of Jesus Christ - the full gospel that is the way we can return to our Heavenly Father. I love being led by the Spirit every single day as I strive to give my best. Who can glory too much in that?

Studies this week have included an intense study of chapter 2 in Preach My Gospel, "Effective Study." Not only does this apply to mission life, but the principles contained (in this and every single page of PMG) apply to improving our study in all things! Praying, practicing, and evaluating are key in any kind of study. The Spirit can help us remember all those things that we need in the moment we need them, if we are prepared. 

This was one of those weeks where everyone and their dog cancelled on us. But did that get us down? Nope. We spent a lot of companionship study this week practicing teaching and inviting people to be baptized. We focused on teaching the lessons, particularly the Restoration, simply and according to the person's needs. We're still working on getting our lesson times down to even shorter (people like to talk a lot when we ask questions), but as we practice we are becoming even better!

We found a new investigator this week - Sherry - from one of our recent converts. She has been through so much in her life, and now she just wants to experience happiness in this life. She loves the Church, and though she doesn't know everything yet, she has a great desire to be baptized! We are so excited to see yet another miracle in the Lord's work - He sent her here so she could find the gospel. That's literally what happens every day in Salt Lake. The people we teach are almost always brought here by the hand of God so they can find the joy and peace of the gospel. There is no other explanation.

This transfer, I have several key goals for myself, but one of them is to really master the art of planning. To really think about these souls, our brothers and sisters, we get to help come closer to the Savior. To use my time more effectively. To be focused on the work. To become more exactly obedient. Lots of things. So mom, this transfer, I'm becoming a master planner :) You should be excited ;)

Alma 37:33-34 is a fantastic scripture that is now one of my all-time favorites.

Hymn 279 verse 3 is pretty great, too.

This talk by Elder Ballard is incredible.

Thank you all for your prayers, fantastic letters and packages, and continual love and willingness to share the gospel with all around you! I know that this gospel, the gospel of Jesus Christ, is the only source of true happiness in this life and in eternity. I know that as we seek to obey His will and do those simple, daily things that He has asked us to do, we will find blessings poured out upon us. 

I love this work! I love these people! I love you all :)

Remember to smile and expect miracles!

Love,

Sister Holbrook the Older

Pictures:

Companionship picture at Temple Square!!

Our district at the Utah capitol building (seriously, what other district in the world gets to do that?). back row - Elders Espinal, Flores, Carillo, Unklesbay, Whittle, and Farias

front row - Sisters Taylor, Bill, me, Pearson, and Tucker

Week 31: Preach My Gospel

SKYPE NOTES FROM LAUREN’S MOM:

It was so fun to skype with Lauren.  Her face is full of joy and light and she is soooo happy as a missionary.  I asked her if she ever gets discouraged and she said “there isn’t time for that – there is so much to do.”  Her trio consists of Sister Bill from Canada, who has been out a year and Sister Tucker from North Carolina, who has been there a few weeks.  Sister Bill’s native language is French and she uses lots of hand movements and facial expressions when she talks which Lauren has caught onto.  Lauren was hilarious when she would randomly make hand gestures to explain something.  Megan would say wait do that again and we all would laugh.  Their study time in the mornings is personal study, then companionship study, then the 12 week study for Sister Tucker, then language study for Sister Bill.  So they are having LOTS of study time.  Lauren expects that next week a 4^thsister will be added and then they will split up again.  There are 7 wards in their stake, a retirement branch, and a Spanish branch.  On Sundays they split and each goes with a sister member so that they can cover more wards.  The North part of the stake has been “neglected” and is excited to have motivated sister missionaries to work with them.

They have 3 investigators right now – a couple who has come to church a few times and another lady who is enjoying learning about the Book of Mormon.

They work with a lot of less-actives there and basically teach them the same things they would teach new investigators.  They set temple goals so that someone who is baptized gets on Family Search within 2 weeks, then takes those names to the temple 2 weeks after that.  She gave us the quick lesson on how she introduces the Book of Mormon.  She is such a gifted teacher.  We apparently should all get copies of the 2013 edition with the pictures in the front – the pictures introduce it all step by step. 

Megan and Nathan comment that she only wants to talk about the gospel and teaching, which is true.  It just shows me that she has immersed herself in missionary work and that is all that is on her mind. Which is what she is supposed to be doing!

She is in what I would term a scary part of town.  I try not to worry and pray daily that she will be protected. I asked if she feels safe. She said “Yes. We don't go contact people at night. But thankfully it's light until about 8:30 now. And we have a car. So it's a lot better. And Sister Bill says she's really good at kicking stuff :) So yeah, we feel safe for the most part.“

Her quote for this week was cute - "We don't raise couch potatoes, we raise future missionaries." From

one of the service missionaries :)

The nurses from the hospital called on Tuesday to report on Lauren’s annual.  This is where they do a cath through her leg and look at her coronary arteries and take tiny samples of her heart tissue to see if there is any rejection.  The report was fabulous – coronaries are nice and clear and biopsy is basically perfect.  That news is always such a relief to hear. 

So, there is the report.  We have to wait until Christmas to see her cute face – that is 7 months!

LAUREN’S EMAIL MONDAY MAY 12th 

GOOD MORNIN' BARNYARD!

Well today is gorgeous outside. And it's not too hot. And there are mountains. And I'm finally NOT coughing!! oh, and I'm a missionary :) So life is pretty fantastic today and I hope you all can catch the spirit! Because life is a beautiful thing and it's such a blessing to be able to experience everything we do each day! The gospel is true and it brings so much perspective to life!

Yes, I'm happy today :)

First off, Happy Mother's Day to not just my own mom, but to all of those women who have led, taught, and guided me and been incredible examples for me to follow. I love each one of you so so much! Mom, you're the best. And I love you so much!

My annual biopsy was this week and all is well!! I've never been healthier and I'm enjoying every single second of it. 

It was a BLAST talking to my family yesterday! Basically, I have the best family ever. And it was so fun to see all of your cute faces and see how tall Nathan is now (sorry Megan) :) I LOVE that because of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, our families can be together forever. What an incredible blessing that we will be an eternal, forever family as long as we keep the promises we have made to our Heavenly Father. 

This morning as I was studying in chapter 2, I read Doctrine & Covenants 88:118 which says that we are to seek out of the best books words of wisdom and seek learning by study and faith. BUT what stood out to me today was actually in the first few lines - the WHY of learning and studying. "And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom." 

We are to study and learn as much about the gospel as we can, but not for ourselves. We build up our own testimonies and knowledge and understanding so that we can then go forth and help others build their faith. When we know and understand the doctrine, we will be able to teach it simply and according to how people need to be taught to build their faith. 

And then I was reading on page 18 of Preach My Gospel, there's a study activity where it asks, "What influence did [Joseph Smith's] study have on future generations?" Think about that. Because Joseph Smith was studying the Bible, seeking for answers, and later on when he was translating and studying the Book of Mormon looking for guidance, look at what we have today: the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Wow. Think about the effect that our studies and our going forth to share those studies can have on others?! 

My personal study time will forever be a daily priority. I would not be able to have the spiritual and physical stamina for this work without the help of the Spirit and the guidance and revelation given during those morning study hours. That time I have each morning to study and listen is sacred for me, and I love continually learning about the gospel. This is a restoration of questions, and I love finding new questions to ponder and go into the scriptures with. I love receiving revelation and discovering even more questions. It's a wonderful process that really allows us to learn and to follow the Spirit in that learning process.

I love this gospel! I love being a missionary! I love my family! I am so grateful for this restored gospel that makes not only this life an incredible joy, but also the possibility of eternal happiness in the life to come. Family - you're the best. Keep being awesome :)

Remember to smile and look for the little miracles in every single day!

Love,

Sister Holbrook

Enos 1:15-16

Jarom 1:11

Omni 1:25-26

Words of Mormon 1:4-11

Me and Sister Taylor at the hospital for my annual biopsy. Everything checks out splendidly!! As in I've never been healthier :)

Me and my sweet, wonderful, fantastic, hilarious family who I love a whole lot!

Week 30: My Area: Liberty

It appears I am still in the process of perfecting the art of weekly emails home. This week I will attempt to share funny moments, spiritual upliftment, stories of each person we visited, and the meetings we had. Enjoy!

First off, any of the youth (or really anyone reading this) should go check out the Youth Hastening the Work website. Such fantastic ideas and study helps for being involved in sharing the gospel!

Mom has asked for a few questions to be resolved.

Differences between Bountiful and Liberty

Bountiful is tucked away up in the mountains. Liberty is in the south downtown side of Salt Lake. Bountiful is very prosperous. Liberty is not. Bountiful is well-educated, with lots of opportunities for education, youth activities, etc. Liberty has a lot fewer of those opportunities. Bountiful and Liberty both have people who have been here forever. Liberty has a lot more movement with apartment complexes and young college families.

But the cool thing: both of these areas are full of people of incredibly strong faith. I am just astounded by the role faith plays in our conversion as I have met so many people these past several months. I love both of these areas, and I'm grateful the Lord put me in both of them.

The role of senior couple service missionaries in the stake

We have lots of church service missionaries in our stake. They are older couples from southern Salt Lake valley (West Jordan, Riverton) to Bountiful and Kaysville. They are assigned to a ward or stake in south Salt Lake to help with welfare, visits, and reaching out to various families per the Bishop's needs. They are also there to help us with reaching out to our investigators in more temporal needs, but they also come to lessons with us and contact referrals. They are basically my grandparents here in the stake, and I just adore them.

Funny quotes and stories

"How can we show Jesus that we love Him?"-me  "Go to Church and get married in the temple."-Jaden "That's too fast Jaden."-his mom

"You don't understand." Sister Bill

"We need to pray before we go to bed. I know it's hard, but try." -Sis. P

"Are you wrestling?" "Yes." "Watch out for sharp corners." -Sis. S

"When I look out, I only see beautiful people. There are no freaks here." -sweetest boy who bore his testimony yesterday

We keep seeing cars with bright pink mustaches - fuzzy, bright pink mustaches - on the front of their cars. Who knows why. #welcometoliberty

I saw an old friend from BYU who lives in my area.... weird.

Oh yeah! I went on exchanges with Sister Taylor this week!!! LOVE that sister. We had a blast in YSA (young single adult). It was incredibly different from working in the family wards, but I loved it. We had some adventures, went and walked probably 3 miles to contact people, ate fantastic Dominican food, and texted every person in the entire area. Super fun.

Now for my own little bits from this week: Firesides and Meetings

Clayton Christensen "Everyday Missionaries" fireside over in Rose Park was incredible. Since I'm running out of time, let me just share the five main points he talked about in order to be a more effective member missionary: 

1. We can't predict. Meaning, we can't judge if a person would or would not receive the gospel just because of an outward perspective.

2. We succeed when we open our mouths! or when we invite! see Preach My Gospel chapter 11

3. Ask if they have questions! This is a restoration of the gospel and a restoration of asking questions.

4. Teach them how to pray, to read the scriptures, to come to church, etc.

5. They will feel the Spirit when they serve. Provide service opportunities for them! We need them.

Meeting with Bishop C about the needs of his ward ended up being an awesome experience of us learning about the importance of covenants. When people come to ask for something temporal, what they really need to to make and keep covenants and to enjoy the blessings that come from living the gospel. It's so true - when we do what the Lord has asked us to do, He pours out blessings upon us, and that makes everything work out.

Mini zone meeting with President Hansen about reaching our goals and internalizing our purpose. Everything we do must be working towards our purpose. And we must become converted before we can really help others become converted as well. I love Preach My Gospel chapter 1 so much. We talked about teaching with the pamphlets and how the purpose of that is to help us keep our lessons short, concise, and focused on the basic principles of the gospel.

We were invited to attend a baptism for a sweet eight-year-old girl who's father had recently been reactivated. He is the only member of the church in his family, and so when the time for the confirmation came, he bore his testimony and asked if any other Priesthood holders in the room would come join to help him confirm His daughter. I love seeing the Priesthood in action. It truly is the power of God to act in His name. 

Biggest accomplishment of the week was on Sunday. We visited every single ward in the stake. And that's how we do it here in Liberty. We felt so accomplished. 

I love you all! I love this work! The gospel is true! Miracles happen! Heavenly Father loves you! 

Love,

Sister Holbrook

Hymn #30 is my favorite. And my mission theme song,

Jacob 5 is amazing. Great personal study reading the book of Jacob the past few days.

Companionship matching. So sweet

Our Sunday snack... at like 7 at night after we broke our fast. Such a busy day