E-mail (Dated: 2/23/2015)

Wow its definately been a crazy week. It was full of ups and downs! We had lots of conferences- Elder Mendoza from the 70 came and talked to us! It was amazing to hear his council and testimony!
But besides all the conferences, this whole past week we have been trying to get a hold of our investigator Marialena (The woman who was supposed to be baptized very soon). She had been out of town for family problems, and when she came back, it seemed to be impossible to find her. Everyday as we passed by her house, she was out selling or no one knew where she was or she felt sick and "couldnt talk". But yesterday after the conference, we went to find her. She wasn't home again, but we decided to talk to a less active and tell her what we had learned in the conference and that she was missed very much. Then, right as we finished, Marialena walked by. We ran to her to help her carry her bags and she rejected our help. She was not herself. It was a completely different Marialena than the one we had been teaching two weeks ago. She told us that she didn't want to talk our lessons anymore and that she wanted to be alone cause life was too hard. She didn't want to talk or see anyone. This threw me and Hermana Mills way off. We talked to her on the side of the street, all of us with tears streaming down our faces.  Finally, she said okay come into her house and talk. I've never been in such an intense situation. I prayed so so hard that the spirit would guide our words and soften her heart. And after talking it out with her, she finally said okay I will keep listening to you, and I will be baptized! It was amazing to see how strong the power of God was. He completely answered our prayers and softened her heart. She came back to herself and her desires to follow and turn to Christ came back.

This experience was a very learning experience to me. I saw how in just two short weeks, how fast satan can come and attack us. And if we don't study the scriptures and pray every single day, we will fall FAST.

I'm grateful that we are still able to continue to teach our Marialena. And I'm so grateful for the power of the Holy Ghost. Because without it, we would have lost her. Also, If you all could keep Marialena and her family in your prayers I would be very grateful!!

I love you all so very much (: Have a great week!
Con muchooo amor,
Hermana Chynoweth aka Brookie Cookie

Quote of the day: "Dont yield to stans lie that you dont have time to study the scriptures. Choose to take the time to study them. Feasting on the word of God each day is more important than sleep, school, work, television shows, video games, or social media. You may need to reorganize your prioritites to provide time for the study of the word of God. If so, do it!"                                                                                  -Elder Richard G Scott October 2014 Conference.

E-mail (Dated: 2/16/2015)

Hola mis amores! I hope all of you had a fantastic Valentines Day (:

Well Me and Hermana Mills are super excited because yesterday, we had a man named Jose, and a couple (Eva and Salvador) come to church for their first time! We just barely started teaching Jose about a week and a half ago, and he is progressing SO much! He is 75 years old and is just the cutest little man ever. He has such a strong desire to follow Jesus Christ. He has had a smoking addiction for quite some time, but this week he got down to only smoking 2 cigarettes each day! He has gone from about 6 to 2 every day since we first met him(: Me and Mills are super excited for him.

We have some time teaching Eva and Salvador, but they finally told us this week we could pass by for them for church! They had lots of challenges to get over, but they finally developed the faith to come! They both fit in so well in the ward, and Eva was just glowing and smiling. It was so fun to see them.

Well big surprise this week: Me and Hermana Mills are going to be staying together again here in our area! This will be our 4th transfer together its crazy... but I am grateful I have another transfer or more to work here! We have found some really great people, people that I know we will see entering the waters of baptism. I'm grateful for the opportunity to learn how to keep enduring, even when it seems impossible to do. Me and Mills have raised our expectations for our area, and we are seeing more miracles. Its been a very great learning experience for me!

I love you all! Have a fantastic week (:

Con mucho amor,
Hermana Chynoweth aka Brookie Cookie (:

Ps Happy late birthday to Blake!! (:
Psx2 Here are some pics from Tepoztlan! The first one is one top of the Pyramid! If you zoom in close on the second, you might be able to find the pyramid on the top of the mountain we hiked (:

E-mail (Dated: 2/9/2015)

Hi fam!!

Sorry this will be so so short! Me and my comp just got back from hiking! We went to what is called Tepolzlan (:

Anyway know I love all of you and I will update you next week! Changes will be this Wednesday because a 70 is coming to our mission next week! Other than that, all is the same.

Con muchooo amor,
Hermana Chynoweth aka Brookie Cookie

E-mail (Dated: 2/2/2014)

Hi loved ones! Wahooo guess who hits their year mark this week? This missionary!! Well I don't have a lot of time cause my poor companion is super sick, so here we go!

So this week, we found thee most special family. The moms name is Patty, and her two kids are Juan Pablo and Andrea. They are Catholics and have soo much faith. The mom is such an amazing and strong woman. In our first lesson, they all accepted a baptismal date and also put a goal to start reading and praying every night. When we came back a couple days later, they were all excited, telling us they have been keeping their goal! The mom also started crying as we visited her with some recent converts, a little confused why she felt so comforted when we were in her house. We were all able to express our testimonies of the gospel, and how Heavenly Father is letting her know that this is his church. She has some difficulties with her husband, they were on the point to divorce, but this incredible message is bringing so much hope and peace into her life.

Our other investigator, Marialena is at the point of being baptized! Her baptism will probably end up being the 14 of February (yay Blake's birthday!) if not this upcoming Saturday. She has been so receptive to everything, and is sharing it with her whole family! Just last Saturday, we met her grand daughter Marisol who accepted us with her whole heart! Its amazing to see how just one person can effect a whole family. Its been amazing to see her love and desire to follow Christ grow.

Les amo!! Have such a great week! Mwah!
Con muchooo amor,
Brookie Cookie aka Hermana Chynoweth

E-mail (Dated: 1/26/2015)

Hey my beautiful family! How is everyone doing?

Well I would love to tell you about some of the hugeee miracles we saw this week!!

First off, with the 15 year old girl we found- Fanny- we went to visit her, and she told us right off that her and her spouse had started praying together. She told us that before, they were fighting all the time, and now they are not fighting at all!! She told us that he had been blessed with more work, and since he wasn't at home every night, they would call each other and say a prayer over the phone. She was excited to give the first prayer, and didn't need any reminders of how to start of finish and she said it perfectly. It was such a tender mercy for me and Hermana Mills to see. It was such a testimony builder of the importance of couple and family prayer. I know that it really does make the biggest difference. Sometimes its hard to take the time to get the family together, but it will make the biggest eternal difference.

The second miracle we saw was yesterday. Me and Hermana Mills had been fasting specifically for an investigator named Marialena (the woman who told us she would be moving in a week or two, right before her baptism). We have been praying so hard that she would be able to be baptized. And after our ward council, right before church, we ran to pick her up, and right when we saw her, she immediately told us that she would not be moving to Temixco! She will only be moving right down the street!! I stood there, trying not to cry because the works of our Heavenly Father are so great. We are so so grateful and privileged to help her continue to prepare for her baptism, and I could not be more excited!!

Everything is going great. We are seeing the blessing from our endurance. And I know we will only continue to see more!

Scripture of the week (Sorry ive been so bad with this lately): 3 Nephi 13: 31-33

"Take no thought saying what shall we eat? or what shall we drink? or wherewithal shall we be clothed? For your Heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you."

These past couple weeks we have been talking a lot with our investigators about the importance of putting God first- For example our prayers, scripture reading, and church attendance. And I know that if we do, he really will take care of everything else. He is soo willing to bless us if we can just show a little bit of faith and put him before everything else.

I love you all! Hope everything is great!
Con muchooo amor,
Brookie Cookie aka Hermana Chynoweth

E-mail (Dated: 1/19/2015)

Hola hola mis amores!

This week was a little bit hard too, but were still pushing through! We found out that our investigator Marialena (Our baptism that would be in 2 weeks) is going to be moving to Temixco. :( Shes not exactly sure when but she told us sometime in the next two weeks. So that was a bummer. But we saw a miracle with her! Me and my companion decided to start a fast Saturday night for our area. And when we went to pick up Marialena before church, She told us that she had been feeling dizzy on Saturday night. She decided to pray and right after she felt fine! She had been worried she wouldn't be able to come to church the next day, but Heavenly Father blessed her to come! But during Sacrament, she did start feeling sick again, so she was able to receive a Priesthood blessing. And she made it through all 3 hours- she was so determined to stay! She was so cute! And afterwards she told us that after the men had put their hands and oil on her head, she felt so much better! It was a tender experience for us all. I know that the power of prayer and fast is unstoppable. Heavenly Father is so willing to bless us with tender mercies as we put forth effort on our part.
We also found a really special girl in our area this week. Her name is Fanny. When we stopped her on the side of the road, she had just moved here from Michoacan 6 days ago. She is having such a hard time here- Shes only 15 and has a 4 month baby and lives with her druggy spouse. She told us she wants to turn her life around. She is so excited to hear more about our message and wants to be baptized! Were excited to see what happens with her!
I hope you all have such a great week! Les Amo!

Con muchooo amor,
Brookie Cookie (:

PS: interesting story of the week: There are two men who live in our area and are literally drunk every hour of the day. And this week they wouldn't stop following us saying we have "Beauty eyes" and "Im in love with you". Not gonna lie I'm learning a lot of patience for drunk men haha.

E-mail (Dated: 1/12/2015)

Hey hey hey!

Well not gonna lie, this week was a Little bit harder. We had lots of challenges with our investigators. We had a couple this week that we were teaching tell us that they no longer wanted to take the missionary lessons. :( I know they have their agency, but I still cried once we left the house cause I know how many blessings they are losing. Also, no one came to church yesterday and we had many many investigators tell us they would come. But I wont get discouraged, because I know that that's not what my Heavenly Father wants! He wants me to learn and grow from this challenge, so that's what ill do! And hey on the bright side, the less actives that we have been visiting have been coming back to church! We had 3 this past Sunday! (:

Also, when we challenge people to be baptized, they accept at first, and then say no to an exact date and say well i just cant say for sure right now. Its been hard, but its all good! I know that these little bumps in the road are just helping us work harder and helping us grow stronger! And I have faith that Heavenly Father will guide us to the people who will accept.

Other than that, we are doing really good! Hermana Mills is great i love her!

I love you all so so much! Hope everything is going great! (: MWAH!
Con mucho amor,
Brookie Cookie aka Hermana Chynoweth
¡Les Quiero!