MORE MTC

 YES, MORE MTC is right...or as my dad puts it...more "Moving Toward Curitiba!" Just to give you a heads up, my whole district got reassigned and is out in the field, EXCEPT ME! Here's the story....

Can I hear great hair day, PLEEASE?:)

First off, Brit. Katie Knight? My gosh, you might as well quit running now and travel the world signing autographs because you're so cool. Ben! 15 minutes before your race and no warm-up?! Some people just don't need warm-ups, they're that good. Mom and dad, oh thank you. Your letters have carried me through the last few days. MOM, feed everyone everything. That's my only request for my birthday. It's fast Sunday here and they don't let us eat til 6, andddd I'll be alone on my birthday:) Party for days.

So, here is my parable of The Daddy-Daughter Date:

Once upon a time, there was a girl who was away from home at college for a long time. Her dad was her very best friend and she missed him very much. One day, he called her up and said: "Hey darling! When you get home, on exactly April 29th, let's go to Olive Garden! I want you to do everything you can to prepare and get excited, because I can hardly wait."

So, she gets ready. For months and months she's looking forward to April 29th at 7:00, when she FINALLY gets to do what she has wanted to for such a long time. She thinks about it everyday, and it carries her through hard things.

April 29th comes. All day, (the MTC,) she is getting ready for 7:00! She gets everything done she needs to throughout the day. Seven o'clock arrives and she can hardly sit still. Five minutes before they're supposed to leave, her dad says: "You know hon, I'm so sorry but tonight just isn't going to work."

He doesn't give an explanation, and her heart just sinks. She's been waiting, and working, and waiting, and working, and she wants to go to Olive Garden with her dad SO BAD. She thinks maybe she's being punished for something wrong that she did throughout the day. But then, it dawns on her that Olive Garden wasn't really the point. Without this opportunity to wait a little longer, she wouldn't have been able to show Him that on April 29th at 7:00, she would do whatever it was that night He needed her too. The point was spending time with her Father. The point was never the destination.

So, that has been my week. My entire zone got re-assigned, I've been up at 4 in the morning to send them all off the last few days, and I'm still at the MTC. It was really hard at first, and I racked my brain for days on why I was being left out. But I don't think I'm being left out; I think I just needed to understand a little more that my goal isn't a certain time or a certain place, but that my goal is to show Heavenly Father that this is His time, and the most important thing to me is to do what He wants me to.  So I've been sleeping on a mattress with no blankets or sheets, I don't quite have a companion yet, and I'm living entirely out of a suitcase that I had 15 minutes or so to pack:) I'm loving it though; just kinda taking it a moment at a time. Hmm. I wonder where I will be or who will need to talk to me about some other problem in the next 20 minutes. Hmm. I wonder where I will sleep tonight! It's like I'm on Survivor. Or HUNGER GAMES, and I'm freaking Catnus because I'm the LAST ONE STANDING!!! I'm just learning that whenever something is hard, the Lord wants you to use it to learn more about His Son. I have been so blessed these last few days because I've learned more about the Atonement. It's been a wee bit lonely, but I love that when we feel alone or scared or left behind or heartbroken in new ways, we get a chance to get a tiny little glimpse of the Savior. It is so very nice to have someone who understands:) Also, I once again have no idea where I'll be in a week. Maybe they'll end up sending me to Antarctica or Sweden. I wouldn't put it past em.

My WONDERFUL district and dear friends!!!

On Sunday, I played the piano at devotional for this random elder who needed an accompanist, and he did a fineeee job! Right after I sit down, Sister Nally, (the MTC president's wife,) says: "I've never done this before, but I'd like to ask Sister Brooks to come right back on up here."

First thought: I should have combed my hair sometime in the last month.

Second thought: Yes. I put on make-up today.

Third thought: Wait, what?

So I waddle my little self right on up there and she asks me to bear my testimony and then talk about the Boston Marathon. I get done speaking and she looks at me, and in front of all these missionaries, says: "Sister Brooks. You are in the right place." It wasn't that big of a deal, but it was definitely a tender mercy:)

Yesterday I was studying with these elders and one of them starts talking about how weird one of his friends is because she always MEOWS. Did I tell him I sing hymns via meowing every night to whoever is lucky enough to be around me? Why, no, I certainly did not! People these days.

I love Portuguese grammer. Haha I'm such a nerd. Portuguese just makes sense in ways that English doesn't, and I love it!! I eat it up, and ask all these strange questions about the direct object pronoun, and I think my class hates me. Which really doesn't matter because they are now scattered around the US:) So I'm over it.

Thank you for your prayers. Missions are so wonderful:) And I'm so grateful for support, especially on weeks like this one!

Have the best week of your whole life. I have another P-day on Friday because I'm actually moving tomorrow at 3 AM to a new district. Rollin with the punches. BRING IT ON.

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!

Sister Brooks

AWKWARD FAMILY PHOTOS