New Opportunities for Growth!!!!!!!

Dear Family, Hey it is great to hear from everyone sounds like everyone is doing great! Everything is going great here in Argentina. Today we just started a new transfer and there were quite a few changes made. My companion Elder Baldomero has been transfered to another area. Elder Baldomero was just starting to feel better but when we received the call saturday night that he was getting transfered he started not feeling to well, a little sad and disappointed becasue he did not want to leave. We were able to get along very well in the short time we were together and it was a little tough on both of us when we found out he was getting transfered already. I explained and we talked about how the mission or life is just like sports. You never now when it is your last game, you need to give it all you got and leave everything you got on the field each game, each day. We had a great transfer and we worked very hard and we are very grateful for what we were able to accomplish. It was a good conversation and it was also interestesing in our transfer meeting as we listened to President Bentons message as he touched on a similar topic. So now we have begun a new transfer, I am still in Las Heras and serving as district leader, and I will also be training this transfer! I am not sure who my companion is, right now I am on divisions with Elder Zapata from Panama who will also be training this transfer. Tomorrow we will report to the mission offices and meet our new companions. Also they placed new elders in our district, Elder Chatwin and Elder Rodriguez who will be serving in Lobos. The work is going well here in Las Heras. We have been working a lot with the members, converts, less active members, and investigators, trying to help all strenghten their faith in Jesus Christ. Our recent convert Joana is doing great and she is loving early morning seminary as she has not missed a day. We are excited as I am sure you are for this weekend and the opportunity to hear from our prophet, President Thomas S. Monson and from all of apostles and many leaders of the church. It is a blessing to hear and receive guidance from our Heavenly Father as he speaks through his disciples. I invite you to take advantage of this opportuinty and attend as many sessions as you can. I am grateful for all of your love and support and look forward to hearing from you soon. Con amor, Elder Brooks.

Sick Elder!!!! Young men step up,,,,,,,,

Dear Family, It's great to hear from everyone sounds like everyone is doing great! First I want to start out by letting you know I am typing on a computer but there are no letters on the keyboard so this is going to be a little interesting to type but I'll see what I can do. This week was pretty nice, I was able to receive the package from dad and everyone and it was amazing thanks for your love and your support! Mom you mentioned about sending a package, to be honest I do not need anything for now so I think you can wait on sending a package. This week was Elder Baldomeros birthday. His birthday went pretty well, I bought him a gift, some slippers that he wanted and we had lunch with the president of our branch. However Elder Baldomero ended up getting pretty sick this week. It was a little disappointing and frustrating for the both of us as we wanted to work but Elder Baldomero had to stay in and rest. However, we were able to receive some help at the end of the week from some young men in our stake. We were able to make plans and do divisions with two young men from our stake. It truly was a blessing and we had a great experience. Doing divisions with them gave me the opportunity to go out and work wirh one while the other stayed in the apartment with Elder Baldomero. We were able to work with them Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Each day we rotated in order to give each young man the opportunity to go out and work with us. It was a great opportunity for me to be able to work with and to show them a little what the mission is like and to help them get a little excited to prepare and serve a mission. We also had the opportunity to study together in the morning. One morning we started out by sharing something that we learned from our personal studies. As it came to be one of the young mens turn he shared a scripture he had read. He said he was not sure what he wanted to study that morning so he just opened the Book of Mormon. He opened his book and began to read and came across a scripture about preaching the gospel and serving a mission. He read us the scripture and shared his testimony on how he now wants to serve a mission. We were so excited for him! It was a great experience to be there amd feel and see his desires to serve a mission. It truly is a blessing and a privelige to serve a mission. I am very grateful for all of your love and support. Everything is going great here in Argentina. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Con amor, Elder Brooks. Hey sorry if the letter is short it was really hard to type and it was the only computer available, Elder Baldomero and I both had computers with no letters on the keyboards.

Trust in His Plan!!

Dear Family, Hey it is good to hear from everyone sounds like everyone is doing great. Mom its good to hear your safe and that you had a good time at your young womens activity. Mackenzie nice job on your track meet keep working hard. Happy Birthday Desi and Duane! Everything is going well here in Las Heras. I have not received the package from Dad but I will let you know when it arrives. This week we did a lot of traveling which did not give us a lot of time to work but we ended up having a very successful week. We were able to end the week with a baptism! Joana Alza, sixteen years old, was able to be baptized sunday night in Marcos Paz. Joana is the daughter of an inactive member named Juanita. Joana used to go to church when she was younger with her mother and her sisters but after some time they stopped attending church. The elders started teaching Joana last transfer but it has been quite a challenge to get her baptized. Joana is a great girl and was very ready and prepared as she made the decision to be baptized. We had plans of baptizing Joana earlier in the transfer but something always came up and we were not able to put a definite date for her baptism, such as vacations or her mom not being home due to work. This last week we set the baptism date for Saturday but then we found out that the youth from the ward were going to visit the temple and do baptisms for the dead in Uruguay, and that Joana had enlisted to go with them even though it being that she would not be able to enter the temple, what an example! We then decided to change the baptism date to friday giving her the opportunity to be baptized and maybe the chance to enter in the temple. However, we were then informed that they would be leaving friday in the afternoon for Uruguay so now we were not able to have the baptism friday either. After praying and dicussing it over we decided to have the baptism Sunday in the afternoon, becasue we could not keep pushing off her baptism. The baptism went very well and we traveld to another area called Marcos Paz where there is a chapel and a baptism faunt. Joana was very excited and is now waiting to be confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Also this week we had the opportunity to have interviews with President Benton. He is a great example, as he continues to demonstrate his love for me and the other missionaries. The interviews went well and he is very proud of all that I am doing and says that my parents would be proud, thats for you mom I am sure you are proud but I hope that makes you feel better. Now changing the subject, I received a call last night from the other elders in my district and unfortunately it looks like they will be leaving the district for a while. I am not exactly sure on the details but both of the elders have been asked to bring their suitcases to the office today. I am praying that they are alright and that they will be able to return with us. In life there are many challenges, obstacles, distractions. We need to continue with faith and put our trust in our Heavenly Father and in His plan. I am grateful for your love and your support. I know that this is the true gospel of Jesus Christ and that our Heavenly Father has a plan for each one of us. I know that if we trust in His plan we will receive His help and His blessings. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Con amor, Elder Brooks.

Serving......

Dear Family, Hey sounds like everyone is doing great, it's great to hear from you. We had quite a week here in Las Heras so let me try to fill you in. This past week we had our district meeting and I had the opportunity to prepare a lesson/talk for my district. It went very well and I talked about "finding as we teach, teach as we find." Our district is doing well but we can improve in a few areas such as finding those who are ready to accept the gospel in their lives. I talked about the importance of talking and inviting all those we can to listen to our message, even though there may not be as many people out in the streets in our areas we can try and take advantage of all our opportunites. I also mentioned that not only do we know that we need to teach with and by the spirit but we should also work on finding with the spirit in order that we can be guided to those who are prepared. So thats a little update on last weeks district meeting, now I am preparing and thinking on what I should address this week in district meeting. This week we had a great opportunity to preform some service in one of our areas, Navarro. The service project went very well, and was very well organized by some of the couple missionaries from the area office here in Argentina. We had the opportunity to paint a local community facility in Navarro that treats and takes care of people with special needs. We had a nice turn out, the elders from the mission office came, the elders from my district, local church members, local community members, and President and Sister Benton. It was also a great opportunity to share the gospel through our service and we were able to talk to many that were present about the church of Jesus Christ. There is a picture in this weeks paper "The Sol." Also they told us that we might show up in the Liahona, in the local section so we will have to see how that turns out. Elder Baldomero and I are during very well, and we are eating well, today Elder Baldomero threw out an idea of eating rice with gravy and hamburgers so we are looking forward to that. The weather has been very nice here in Las Heras and continues to rain here and there. The other day we were in Navarro and it started to pour again, I finally decided to buy some rain boats, I think mom will be proud hah. I am gald to hear everyone is doing well, I love hearing your updates. I am going to try and send some pictures today through email. I love you and I am praying for you. Thanks for your love and support, have a great week I look forward to hearing from you soon. Con amor, Elder Brooks.

The rain helps things to grow.... Even Elders!!!

Dear Family, Hey it is great to hear from you sounds like everyone is doing great back home. I would like to thank the Cope Family for the valentine cards they sent me and also the 8th ward for the valentine cards I received from them as well. Well to fill you in everything is good here in Argentina and for now we are pretty safe. We heard about the earthquake in Chile and the Tsunami in Hawaii. Everyone is ok here, I do not believe the earthquake reached Buenos Aires, however we have quite a few missionaries from Chile so we are concerned for them and their families and we will be praying for them. My companion Elder Baldomero says his family should be ok and safe back home in Hawaii so thats good to hear. The work is going good in Las Heras and sometimes the weather is nice as well. We received a lot of rain the other week, I have never seen it rain so hard like I have seen it rain here in Argentina. One day we went to Navarro to work and it rained almost the whole day. We left in the morning and it was perfect outside but as it got around mid day it started to rain and did not stop. We were not too prepared so Elder Baldomero and myself we got pretty soaked as we did not have our jackets our umbrellas with us. We made the best out of the situation and were able to continue working and serving those around us. Some of the streets were completly flooded and the water reached up to our knees. We arrived to one of our investigators house, a family who does not have much, they are suffering spiritually and physically. We arrived to their home and everything inside was completly flooded. They were very suprised to see us becasue they were thinking that we were not going to come because of the rain and everything was flooded. As we arrived we were able to help them save a few things from the flood, their refrigerator, tv, and stereo. It was a very humbling experience for Elder Baldomero and myself. We were not able to relate to what they were experiencing and what they were going through, however we know someone who does know what they are experiencing and what they are going through, our Savior Jesus Christ. Elder Baldomero and I are doing well and he is helping me with one of my goals that I set for this year which is to gain a little more weight. We usually cook or order dinner everynight. Elder Baldomero is good about staying on me and making sure I am eating, kind of reminds me of someone back home. Elder Baldomero played football in high school, linebacker, and he red shirted at sacramento state his freshmen year in college. We have a few investigators that we are working with and are looking forwarding to setting some baptism dates with some of them this week. The country here in Las Heras is pretty nice even though it is quite different than my other areas and from where I grew up, I love it! Sorry I was not able to send pictures today I will try and send some next week becasue this computer was not able to send pictures.I appreciate your love and support and I look forward to hearing from you soon. Con amor, Elder Brooks.