Transfers!!! Mother's Day????

Dear Family, Hey! It's great to hear from you and sounds like everyone is doing great! We had a busy week and everything seemed to turn out quite well. This past week we held our transfer meeting on Wednesday and the whole mission was ableto get together here in Ramos Mejia. We were able to finish planning with President Benton, Elder Palacios, the office staff, and myself finished getting everything ready for transfers. There is shall i say, a bit of work that goes into transfers and there is not that much sleep hah. It is amazing how the Lord continues to bless us with the strength that we need each day. I am very grateful for my Heavenly Father and the strength that he gave me this past week, it truly was a blessing. This past Sunday the 17th of October was also celebrated as Mothers Day here in Argentina and together as a staff and as a mission we were able to plan a little something special for Sister Benton. Each transfer meeting we have the opportunity to go up and shake President and Sister Bentons hand and say hi. We decided that this time each missionary would bring a flower for Sister Benton and tell her happy Mothers Day. It turned out very well and Sister Benton was very suprised and also very grateful as she told us that she has never received so many flowers like this before. The transfer meeting turned our well and also the spirit was strong with the messages from President and Sister Benton. When I have more time I would like to explain more about transfer meeting and what we have to do to plan and get everything ready, I am sure mom already has questions hah so Ill try and fill you in more when I have a little more time. I sent some pictures of the tour that we went on with the missionaries that were going home and also some pictures of the transfer meeting. I appreciate your love and support. I am grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life and for the opportunity to share the gospel with those around me. I know that this is the true Church of Jesus Christ. I am praying for you, have a great week. Con amor, Elder Brooks. Mom- I love you Dad- Ill let you know when I get the package thanks I love you

A BUSY WEEK!!

Dear Family, Hey! Sounds like everyone is doing great and thanks for you letters, emails, and pictures. Everything is going great here in Argentina. This past week was pretty packed and busy with all the interviews, meetings, planning the transfers with President Benton, and working in our area. This past week we were not able to work as much we would have liked to in our area but we feel good with that which we were able to do. This past Sunday Julia Herbas was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ! The confirmation went very well and the spirit was strong. Julia was very grateful and very happy. We had a very nice sacrament meeting and I also was given the opportunity to speak. I was able to talk about missionary work and the importance of sharing the gospel with everyone. I was able to share a few scriptures, experiences, and share my testimony. I received some very nice comments from our members and investigators which was nice. I love the members here and I am very grateful for the assignment to serve with them. Also during the week we had the opportunity to have a tour in the capital with the Elders who are finishing their missions this week. Every missionary has the opportunity to go on the tour before finishing their mission which gives them the priviledge to see the capital and get to know a little more of the culture and history of Argentina. I will try to send some of those pictures when I get a chance. President Benton continues to amaze me as I continue to learn from him. This week we were able to plan transfers together and the spirit was very strong and helped us as we made a few changes in the mission. We have had a very nice transfer but it has also been short as we are having our transfer meeting this coming Wednesday. We had to move our transfer meeting up a week earlier because of a mission seminar that President Benton will be attending. We are pretty excited for this transfer as we have set some new goals and plans to help us complete our purpose as representatives of Jesus Christ. I am grateful for this opportunity that I have been given to serve and represent out Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I testify that this is the true church of Jesus Christ. I appreciate your love and support. Have a great week I am praying for you. Con amor, Elder Brooks.

10-10-10 A DAY AND BAPTISM TO REMEMBER........

Dear Family, Hey! It's great to hear from you and sounds like everyone is doing great. Thanks for your emails and letters, I received a letter from Dad and Mackenzie and I should have time to read them today. Everything is going well here in Argentina and the work is also going well in our mission as we just had a "día de diez" which is a phrase in spanish here that means a really great day. This last Sunday was the 10th of October of 2010, 10/10/2010. In the mission we set a goal a while ago to have every area in the mission have a baptism on this unique and special day. This past week was jam packed and spiritual as well. We fasted as a mission and focused on helping our investigators prepare to be baptized. We are very grateful for what we were able to accomplish as we had a total of 56 baptism, all in our mission! Although we were not able to acheive our ultimate goal we feel very blessed and humble for the miracles we were able to see as a mission. Elder Palacios and myself were also able to see the miracle of our Heavenly Father as we prepared Julia Herbas to be baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ. We found Julia last Saturday, the 2nd of October as we assisted some of our investigators attending general confernce. As we were walking to one of our investigators house we saw Julia and her family entering her house and we decided to contact them and invite them to general conference. At that time we did not know Julia but as we talked and got to know her we found out that her daughter is a member of the Church. Julia is from Bolivia and she is 63 years old and has a few kids that are members of the church that live in Bolivia and also one here in Argentina. Julia has been staying with her daughter Rosaesela here as things have not been going well with Rosaesela and here family. When we met with them Saturday we were able to tell that something was amiss and that they needed to attend conference. After talking with them and testifying of the gospel Julia, Rosaesela and her boyfriend and kids came with us to watch general conference. Julia was able to feel the spirit and Rosaesela was able to recognize that she needed the gospel back in her family even though her boyfriend is not currently a member, and her two kids are not old enough to be baptized. The following week after general conference we continued to visit Julia and we invited her to prepare herself to receive the belssings of the gospel in her family by being baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ on the 10 de October, 2010. Julia used to listen to the missionaries in Bolivia when her kids were preparing to be baptized but was not able to be baptized with were family at that time. Julia has a lot of faith and was able to receive and recognize her answer as she asked our Heavenly Father in prayer if this was the true Church of Jesus Christ and if she would receive the blessings of the gospel by being baptized. The 10th of October of 2010 Julia Herbas was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ! I am very grateful for Julia and the faith that she has exhibited as she has chose to follow our Savior Jesus Christ. It looks like we will be staying busy this week as we will be finishing missionary interviews with President Benton, divisions, working in the office, working in our area, and start planning for transfers with President Benton. Tonight we are going to the mission home to have dinner with President Benton, the staff, and Elder Evans and his family. Elder Evans was one of the other assistants and was a really great missionary and example for me and for the mission. His family has recently arrived and he will be spending his last week with his family here in Argentina. I am grateful for your love and support. I love the mission and I am grateful for the opportunity to represent our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Have a great week. I am praying for you, glad to her Beckie, Isaac, and Mackenzie are ok with the car accident and everyone else. Did Mackenzie receive my email that I sent a week or two ago? Tell her to write me when she gets a chance. I would like more updates and pics about Homecoming. Mom I love you thanks for your email. I was given the opportunity to write a message in "el sol" for this week and I invite you to read it when you have the chance. Have a great week. Con amor, Elder Brooks.

Old Investigators Are Now New Members!!!!!!!

Dear Family, Hey! It's great to hear from you and sounds like everyone is doing great and enjoyed General Conference. Everything is going well here in Argentina and we were also able to enjoy General Conference, I relished hearing the inspired messages of our beloved prophet President Thomas S. Monson as well as the other leaders of the church. We were able to watch General Conference here in Ramos Mejia which happens to be the Stake center for the West Stake. We were pretty excited and very grateful for the turn out that we had at General Conference as we had many investigators who were able to attend. In total we had 323 investigators in our mission that attended this years General Conferece! We know that this was a great opportunity for those investigators to hear from a living prophet, to feel the spirit, and to feel the love of our Heavenly Father. I loved conference and the many messages that were given. I was able to learn, strengthen my testimony, and feel of our Heavenly Fathers love that he has for us. I had a nice experience in conference that I would like to share with you. After we arrived to watch conference, we sat down with a few of our investigators and we prepared ourselves to watch conference. Shortly after sitting down I recognized several familiar faces of a few people sitting in the front row watching conference as well. Daniel Gomez, a convert from one of my old areas Billinghurst, was sitting up front watching and taking notes. Daniel was also accompanied with three young men, Kevin, David, and Alan. You may recall a former companion of mine Elder Garcia and I had found David and Alan in my last weeks of work in Billinghusrt, they were baptized shorty after I left Billinghurst. Daniel was with another member from Billinghurst who was inactive during the time while I was in Billinghurst but we began helping him and his family find again their faith in Jesus Christ shortly before I had left. This family also had a few members from their family who were not members but now they have recently been baptized as well into The church of Jesus Christ. It was awesome to see them and see their faith in the Lord as they attended all of general conference. I can understand better how Alma felt when he gathered with the sons of Mosiah. "Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethern, and what added more to his joy, they were still brethern in the Lord, yea, and they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth" (Alma 17:3). I know that this is the true Church of Jesus Christ and that we have the true gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel continues to bless my life and also the lives of many others. I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is for everyone and that it blesses the lives of all those that live it. I appreciate your love and support. Have a great week. I am praying for you. Con amor, Elder Brooks.