E-mail (Dated: 4/28/2014)

Hi my loved ones!! :)

I cannot believe that I have been in Mexico for a whole 6 weeks! A whole transfer! It blows my mind!
So this week was good! My spanish is SLOWLY coming.. Everyday I understand just a little bit more but I just want to be fluent already! The Lord is teaching me a lot of patience! But it is coming! I understand a lot more than I can speak!

This week was good! Both ups and downs! But the good always stands out more than the bad so its good(: I have come to love the people here so much! I have grown so close to so many of them and so many feel like family! They really do take such amazing care of us! It was cute i dont know if you guys remember Sahira (first person i invited to be baptized) her husband made me and my comp shoes!! So legit! mine are pink sandals and SO cute!! oh and she wont let us leave her shop without a ice cream. So ya another reason i am gaining weight yayyyyy. No but everyone is just great (:

So last night we had a very special experience with one of our investigators. Her name is Adriana (I think i mentioned her before!). We are teaching her mom (Adriana) and sister (Pauola). We had a set appointment to teach their family last night. They were waiting outside the building, and Adriana (daughter, 16) just told us how she wanted to get baptized this week! She said she knew the church was true with all her heart and she just wanted to be baptized as soon as she could! The problem is that she has only been to church twice with her family. (here in my mission, investigators have to attend church 5 times). We told her that she probably had to wait another three weeks, but we would talk to the elders! Elder Tvetin told us to tell her she would probably have to just wait the three weeks... She is still super excited to be baptized! I am so excited for her! It is incredible to see all these beautiful tender mercies first hand! Its crazy how the Lord uses us as his tools to be in the exact place at the exact time he needs us! Adriana and her mom found us by the way!
I have also been amazed at how fast people recognize us as servants of the Lord. People that we meet in the street open up to us about their lives in the first 2 minutes of talking to them. Its really tender to me that they trust me and Hermana Fernelius with their life stories and problems. One lady this past week cried to us on the sidewalk in the middle of the day. She has to take care of her mom (BTW me and fern are both cnas so we told her we can kinda relate) and just about her whole life story and that she has been praying so hard for help! and then she met us! ahh its so cool!

We also met a man this past week who wants us to start teaching him and his kids all speak ENGLISH.. like what! Fern said that before I came she never taught anyone who spoke english!

Our stake also had a primary program and it was probably the cutest thing ive ever seen! they had all the missionaries from our district be guides and take the different groups around to the different activitites they had prepared! Theyre theme was temples! And it is probably the cutest thing to see little mexican kids bear testimony on the importance of a temple marriage! Ahh heart melting!

So things with my comp are so so. She had a rough day today. and its really hard when she does not gonna lie. But its all good it will get better (: the lord has us together for a reason! I trust him!
But on the bright side we had 2 confirmations this week! It was the kids of the last family we baptized! They were out of town with their grandparents! We missed them so much! Tongiht we actually get to go have a family home evening with them im so excited! They LOVE hearing the gospel stories! And its so fun to have them be so excited to hear from us!

Okay funny fact of the week- So adriana (daughter) wanted to see a picture of my family so I pulled it out and she was like "Woahhh you guys are from the movies!!!!" hahah it was so funny! And then I happened to have a pic of blake with me(: so I showed them that and Adriana was like "Does he have a brother?!!" and i was like uhhh ya!! hes 16 (Brandon shes 15) So Im hooking you guys up one day! Shes pumped (:
But i love you all so so much!! have a great week! Miss you all!!! MWAH!

te amo!
Con mucho mucho amor,
Brookie Cookie (:

E-mail (Dated: 4/21/2014)

Wow! Okay sooo ya crazy crazy week.. not sure where to start so here we go!

Okay so first off I experienced my first EarthQuake on Friday! yayyy!! It was insane! So so crazy. The worst of it hit on the coast. We heard that it was rated a 7? So we got the aftershocks! wahoo! Me and Fern were doing comp study and the table started shaking.. I thought it was Fernelius so I scooted my chair back and then i was still shaking! We looked at eachother and I yelled Earthquake!! haha ya i first went for my camera out of anything.. I thought I was filming the whole thing and then afterwards I found out I didnt press start! but it literally felt like we were on a boat in the sea.. We live on the second floor btw and our house is made out of concrete! So it was pretty powerful! But were great and safe so its all good (:

We also had interviews with pres Kusch! He is so awesome! They take such good care of us! This was acutally a super hard week im not gonna lie. Everyone was out of town for Easter-which btw they dont even really celebrate! Most people didnt even know it was Easter on Sunday! And its sad cause I love hollidays! But everyone either was out of town or had family over so no one had time for us. I was also super frustrated with my comp towards the beginning of the week. Thursday she just put her head on the table, woudlnt respond to me or anything.. I had to idea what to do. It was hard cause this was the day of Raigens birthday and Maddys wedding and I just wanted to cry and come home. I was like I could be with my family celebrating right now... I went into our bedroom and just cried to our Heavenly Father. I was literally on my hands and knees begging him for strength. And throughout the day and the weekend, Fernelius opened up about how she is so overwhelmed because on her mission she is learning that she just shuts down.. she explains it as going *numb*. She doesnt feel anything or care about anything. Its new to her too.. she just discovered it on her mission. Soo ya i dont know how to help her.. if you guys have any advice that would be great! Im actually really worried about her. But now that I know I can do more to help her! She has been doing a lot better the past couple days(:

Okay back to Easter- Saturday was weird. They had this guy carry his own cross in the road while people whipped him. and he wore a crown of thorns. It was super uncomfortable to hear about! Luckily I didnt see it.. we saw him the day before carrying the cross to his house. so ya weird fact of the week for yall! And I also spoke in church for the first time! They called us Friday and were like ya talk for 10 min on sunday. We were like uhhh we have to prepare talks for pres kusch! But with the help of the Lord we managed to pull it off (: I may or may not have been finishing it up during sacrament haha! But its crazy to see how the lord has blessed me individually. You all know how I hated to talk in sacrament.. like terrified and would say no haha! But once i start talking i just feel so peaceful. The lord really does look after us! I also got to hear Vania (first baptism) give a lesson in Relief Society! Oh my heavens its like she has been a memeber her whole life! It is so incredible to see and meet these people who are SO prepared by the lord! it really is such an incredible experience! And the lord is literally throwing us tender mercie after tender mercie and in just the moments we need them!

Next amazing news! (: So you know how our neighbor blasts his music and i love one song in particular? Anyway we ate with a less active this week and I knew the song was by Jose Jose ( she is obbsessed with him!) I sang part of the song for her and while she was trying to figure it out, her exhub ran off on his motorcycle. When he got back he had bought me one of jose joses cds!! And it has the song on it!! how freaking cute?! Too bad I cant listen to it for another 15 1/2 months haha! oh and btw jose jose is a famous mexican singer from the 60s. (:

I hope you are all doing amazing! I love all of you SO MUCH! Te Amo!! Take care! (:
con mucho mucho amor,
your Brookie Cookie (:

E-mail (Dated: 4/14/2014) [This is a Crazy Ride)

Hola my bonita loved ones!!

This week was another great week! Its crazy to see the tender mercies and miracles of the mission in first person. This week we found some escogidos (chosen ones)(golden investigators)! It was a family! The mom and two daughters all came to church on Sunday! The mom called us in the morning and told us that she would drive us to church! When we got there, the two daughters were outside putting the batery in the car and werent planning on coming because they werent ready. But we told them to hurry and get ready, we would wait for them! During the second hour, we heard the mom bear testimony in class about how she recognized the promptings of the spirit over the weekend to come to church! She said she couldnt sleep all night and finally remembered she had our number at about 5 in the morning and called us! During the 3rd hour, a member told us she had a strong impression that we needed to teach the young womens. So we taught about the resurrection, and after they went in a circle and bore testimony about the book of mormon. As it got closer to the two daughters I got nervous not knowing what would happen.. but it got to the oldest daughter (Adriana) and she took the book of mormon and started crying.. telling everyone that the missionaries could not have came at a more perfect time into their lives. They were going through some hard times, and looking for a religion! The night we taught them, she was watching tv (after we left) and then felt like she needed to read the BOM that we left them. After the first page, she knew it was true... She bore testimony to the whole young womens that she knew this church was true! I could not believe it!!!! There was not a dry eye in the room! Ahh these people are SO prepared by the lord!! It feels like a dream that I get to be apart of this wonderful work! The girls are even planning to go to mutual and girls camp in a couple weeks!!

We also have been teaching the guy who speaks English! ahh its so nice to teach in english! So we actually found out that he was baptized in 2002.... and ya he knows absolutely nothing about the church so were teaching him like an investigator! Its so nice to be able to actually be engaged in the lesson! ahh spanish is so hard! I got super discouraged this week.. During one of our visits to a less active I read a scripture and she turned to my comp and said I cant understand her can I read it? ...And i was like are you kidding me.. had a good cry outside the house. Ah and then Osvaldo (recent member, 16, love him such a good kid, goes with us everywhere haha!) walked up and said you have a zit on your face. And I was like wow I love this culture.

Bad news of the week- I did get sick on friday (thurs night)... And it was rough. Super super mean not gonna lie. I didnt know which end was gonna come out first.. never experienced anything like it before! I was throwing up every hour. We think it was from the food but were not sure! I had to stay home all day Friday.. I was sad we missed the sister training meeting. But I literally could not even stand. I just layed in bed and slept all day! But my wonderful companion took such good care of me! I had a really amazing experience through the sickness though. The first time I got up to go to the bathroom, I remember thinking "I dont need to put my hair back in a ponytail, theyll hold it back for me." And when I woke up in the morning and rememebered this, I rememebered that my hair never fell in my face when I threw up that time. I believe that Heavenly Father sent angels to take care of me that night. I felt so much love coming from BOTH sides of the veil. I remember going back to sleep after the first trip to the bathroom and hearing moms and raigens voice comforting me in my dream. I also felt like Blakes arms were wrapped around me all night. Members from our ward came and brought me drinks (rose the lady who lives under me in our ward brought me tea for my stomach! Yes I drank it.. sadly it was not good.. it was nasty! Ill try yours when I get back:)), medicine and tacos haha. And one memeber gave me a blessing! My first blessing in Spanish! It was incredible! I was so worried I would have another bad night, but I slept like a baby! I know that the power of Priesthood is so real! And I am so so so grateful that we have it here on the earth today. I am so grateful I have access to it through you worthy Priesthood holders!

Since next week is Easter, Happy Easter Everyone!!! I am so so grateful for our Savior. I love him with all my heart! I hope you guys have the best Easter Ever (:

Fun fact of the week- The pinatas here are SO legit!! Ill have to take a pic of one and send a pic sometime! also, they are obsessed with minions.. like its weird how much they love them.

Okay I love you all SO SO much! Have a fantastic week!! mwah!

Second fun fact of the week- So theres this family were teaching and the little girl (around 5) runs up to me with her barbie and yells "Este is su gemela!" Hahahah it means Its your twin! We were all dying!! So funny and SO cute!

Con mucho amor,
Brookie Cookie

E-mail (Dated: 4/7/2014)

Woah woah woah woah i had my two month mark already? What is happening? Time really is flying! Its great haha! Wow this week was amazing! So many things happened I hope i can remember it all! Okay so first off we got to meet as a zone for the MTC mexico dedication on Tuesday! Ya idk why its just now being dedicated we don't know! But i got to see Nueberger and Sturt!!!!!!!!! Ahh i wanted to cry when i saw them! I am SO grateful they are in my zone!! OH my gosh me and nueb just hugged for days! They are doing amazing! We are all seeing so many miracles! Second General Conference!!! oh my heavens how amazing was it! I was so grateful for the opportunity to listen to a meeting called by God! It was amazing to hear EVERY single one of my worries and questions be answered. The holy ghost is such an amazing teacher! I was so comforted! I hope you all felt the same way :) Even my tiniest wishes or desires of my heart were answered. It has been such a testimony builder to see how much the lord cares about each one of us and our small worries. So right after the afternoon session on Saturday we had 3 baptisms!!!!!!! ahhh it was the most beautiful experience! It was with a Mom (Diana, 32) her boy (Javier, 11), and daughter (Andrea, 8). The spirit filled the room! and it was so tender because I knew that they were on the pathway to be sealed as a family one day in the temple! ahh we are so blessed to be able to be with our families for all eternity! The little girl (Andrea) just kept hugging me and my companion! It was such a tender experience. They all just glowed that day! I am so grateful to be a tool in Gods hands. I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve here in Cuernavaca Mexico! Ive been shocked at how fast I have come to love the people! The language is still really hard for me, but I am understanding more and more each day! My companion is such a blessing to me! She is amazing! She is so patient and loving with me! She never fails to make me want to be better! She actually opened up to me about her trainer.. i guess her trainer was so disobedient and was just so rude to her. She would tell her that she didn't understand Americans and just wanted a native companion. I felt so bad :( I am so grateful she has completely turned her mission around for the lord, herself and for me! She said she has noticed how big of a difference obedience has made these past couple weeks. She said she never has seen the tender mercies that we have had before! As the weeks go by and I am getting used to this big change, I have found that I am doing so much better! I am finding joy! The lord has blessed us with SO many tender mercies and miracles. I wish I had time to tell you all of them! Another thing I have learned this week is that we are literally representatives of Jesus Christ. And as representatives, we can promise blessings to these people if they keep and do their part. I love this opportunity to represent my savior and wear this nametag. I feel so safe when I wear it! Not gonna lie, Mexico is not a safe place, ppl stop us in the street and offer us rides cause they are like you girls shouldn't be out here its so peligroso (dangerous)! But were like haha we are protecting YOU right now you don't need to worry (: Haha me and my companion didn't know if it was Easter yesterday or not haha. So if you wanna let us know that would be awesome! We bought ice cream on saturday night to celebrate and then we got to the church on Sunday and no one knew haha! And I had to go through ANOTHER TIME CHANGE. How unfair right? ya lost another hour of precious sleep! It was great. ha. Also one thing we are having a hard time with is getting the investigators and less actives to church. We explain the importance of church and bear testimony and then leave them with commitments and they dont come..if you have any advice I would love to hear it! okay fun fact of the week: So we have this old neighbor next door and every morning at around 8 he just gets up and BLASTS his music.. ahh and he just belts and sings along with it! It is probably the funniest thing ive ever heard! He just sings his old heart out! And he will play songs over and over again hahaha! There is actually a Mexican song that I reallly like.. like a lot! One morning he played Macho Man.. yup mom it was for you! hahaha i was dying! You would LOVE it here! And hes plays YMCA and just so many funny songs! And let me just say EVERYONE here is tone deaf.. its so bad!! we sing hymns in church and im like oh my gosh! but the spirit is still there don't you worry! hahaha ker you would fit in for that reason too (; hahhaha. So its getting so hot.. like not fun hot. pray that we can make it through the next two months. I guess it will start to rain in July! and when it rains i guess it rains! ah im excited its gonna be fun and people will let us into their homes cause well be wet haha (: I hope you are all doing amazing! I am always sending my infinite love your way! Your all in my prayers! I hope you can feel my arms wrapped around you all (: I love you all so so much! Have a fantastic week! Con mucho amor, COOKIE (: