August 14, 2017

this week was #insaneinthemembrane and next week will be the same as well!

Hi Fam!!

This week has been so crazy, but it has been the absolute best, and I know this week is truly going to be incredible with everything that is going on! 

This week most all of our appointments have fallen through, and we weren't able to find any new investigators. But we have been able to meet with Hector everyday and prepare him for his baptism on Friday!! The change he has gone through is truly incredible! He used to be the most cynical person, and now he is full of Joy! He used to never pray or be close to God, and now he is doing everything he can to draw nearer to him. He used to think of the commandments as guidelines that he really didn't need to follow, now he understands the importance of them and how they protect us and allow us to be free.  At his baptismal interview he said the most sincere prayer I have ever heard anyone say. It was a huge testimony builder to me of how he has had a mighty change of heart, and as such anyone can truly have a mighty change of heart, if they are striving to work towards it. Being able to see the Atonement of Jesus Christ work in someone's life is such a huge miracle- and I feel so blessed to have that opportunity to witness that every single day! It is such a happy thing. 

Holy Moly Everyone. In our weekly email to President Gardner, he asked us this, "How are you concentrating and working, exploring and absorbing, pondering and praying, applying and learning, valuing and appreciating the Book of Mormon?" I just wanted to let y'all know thatI am so incredibly thankful for the Book of Mormon- I didn't realize when I was at home how weak my testimony was of the Book of Mormon. I knew it was true but I wasn't applying it to my life so therefore my testimony wasn't really being strengthened by it. Now being able to just study it for 30 minutes a day and going to the Book of Mormon with a question has strengthened my testimony of it so much! Being able to feast upon the words of Christ by writing down the doctrine in each verse, and then diagramming it, and to look for different attributes of Christ as I am reading through it has honestly changed my whole being. I feel like I am a completely different human from when I first came out. I know the only way that happened is by being able to apply what I have learned in my studies throughout the day and week!   For my 40 day fast I picked a topic each week to study, and on Sunday nights I made a list of questions- one for each day to study. This week my topic was repentance/making the sacrament more meaningful. I can't even begin to tell you how incredible it was! Looking back on it I didn't really study anything in particular about the sacrament( I was in Helaman chapter 3), but I was able to learn how to lay down my burdens at the sacrament table and hand everything over to my Savior and to let him help me- rather than me doing all the work. It is definitely not easy, but the process is simple, and it is something that I am trying to work on everyday! 

Well, that is pretty much it! Thank y'all for all the support you give me!! I truly have the best fam out there!! 

Love,

Sister Rook

We finally got to wear our ponchos.... we looked like potatoes, and right when we put them on it stopped raining, it was the funniest thing ever. 

This is Julie Lucas! She is from the Capital ward and wanted to go on team ups with us! She is the absolute sweetest human you will ever meet! 

She bought us Greek food, first time trying a gyro- it was pretty good! 

Sister Banks caught a frog last night.... it was so crazy! 

As you can see,, I was absolutely terrified to hold the frog... I was straight screaming and yelling whenever it was squirming in my hand!

#selfietimeisthebesttime

My crazy comp and I hahaha 

Mama Banks sent us Arizona shirts... so of course we had to take pics! 

Arizona isn't as cool as California... but it is still on the west coast :D 

Sister Bringhurst is a trainer now and she's wearing the dress my mom made for her!