Sister Brooklyn Hermansen Minnesota Minneapolis Mission: I can't think of a subject..

(Since I was out of town visiting my parents in Arizona, I am behind on the blog. Here is the letter Brooklyn sent last Monday. I will add a few pictures at the end that didn't come in her original e-mail.)

Hello! This week is supposed to be warm again so I'm happy.

Steve is amazing!! Last week I talked about his coffee problem and how he had cut down to one cup two days after we taught him the Word of Wisdom. Turns out the cup he had that day was the last cup he has had! He completely quit coffee. In three days. He told us that he knows the Lord is helping him because he has tried to stop drinking coffee a lot of different times but always got bad headaches, but this time, he hasn't had any headaches or problems! When we saw him this past Thursday we taught him about tithing and fast offerings and before we even asked him to do it, he said, "Oh yeah I can do that. That won't be a problem for me." And yesterday was fast Sunday and he came up to us at church with a tithing slip and envelope and said, "Look sisters! I'm paying my fast offerings!" He's golden. This man has grown so much in so little time, it's been amazing to see. We are going to try to push his baptism up to the 18th of March instead of the 25th because of how well he's doing. Also, the elders in the ward have a baptism that day as well, so it would be a double baptism!

Funny tracting story. Everyone in Minnesota has enclosed porches, so we walk up to this porch and there's two young guys smoking. We went in and they were smoking a joint. But we were already in there so we told them who we were and taught them a little lesson about parts of the restoration, (we should have taught the word of wisdom) but they were super nice and even took pamphlets and our card. We actually run into quite a few people smoking weed here haha they're usually the nicest people too.

Yesterday in Fast and Testimony meeting, a lot of people talked about the Atonement and how it can help us. The Spirit was so strong. It made me reflect on my life and my experiences this far and how much the Atonement has helped me in my life. I was reading a talk the other day called "Strengthened by the Atonement of Jesus Christ" by Elder Dallin H. Oaks and I want to share a little bit from it with you.

"For example, the Apostle Paul declared that because the Savior “hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted” (Hebrews 2:18). Similarly, President James E. Faust taught, “Since the Savior has suffered anything and everything that we could ever feel or experience, He can help the weak to become stronger." Speaking of some of his own mortal challenges, the Apostle Paul wrote, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13).

And so we see that because of His Atonement, the Savior has the power to succor—to help—every mortal pain and affliction. Sometimes His power heals an infirmity, but the scriptures and our experiences teach that sometimes He succors or helps by giving us the strength or patience to endure our infirmities."

I know that this is true. Jesus Christ suffered for each of us so that he can help us. He wants to help us. Whether it's a temptation we have a problem with, a sin that we've committed, mental or physical health problems, or tragedies in our life, he can help us. He will help us if we allow him. He might not take the problem away, but he can give you the strength that you need to push through it. All things are possible through Christ. I want to challenge each of you to ponder this and think about something you're struggling with and think about how Christ can help you through it. Then pray for the help that you need. I know that He will help you, even if you don't recognize the help right away.

I love you all and hope you have a great week!!

Brooklyn and Sister Ching. They must get along well because Sister Ching is wearing one of Brooklyn's dresses in this picture!