Elder Colton with President Mullen

Elder Colton with Reynaldo & Isabel

With Cruz Family

Dry Falls

Oroville

May 28: Another crazy week.

So, I finally got to skype with my family! I feel kind of bad, because it wasn't very long, but we had an appointment. That ended up falling through. But we taught them yesterday, so all is well. :) Something that I invited them to do, and also am inviting everyone else that gets this, is to read the Book of Mormon! But you need a new, clean one. Probably the cheapest ones you can buy. And then, you mark in one color every time Christ is mentioned, another color every time He speaks, another color for His doctrine (fourth article of faith+EttE), another color for His promised blessings, and ANOTHER color for his characteristics. You can pick and choose if you want, you don't have to do all of them. Or you can do something different! (e.g. I'm marking the Plan of Salvation this next time around). But I think the most important one is marking when Christ is mentioned. When you read the entire Book of Mormon doing that, you realize how much it TRULY is about Him. You appreciate it more, and I promise that if you do it, you'll have a stronger relationship with our Savior!

Anyway, on to the area. It was kind of hard on Sunday because we basically knew ahead of time that no one would be able to come to church. We had announced the Super Saturday, but the only visitors were members. We're planning on doing another one of those things though where we invite everyone in the ward to invite one non-member on a day that everyone's in town. Just in the future, maybe a month from now. Anyway, we did find some new investigators this week, and while they didn't commit to come to church, we're still excited to teach them! Many people have potential, and there's for sure more people that need the Gospel, so we're going to keep working hard to find more people! 

We were getting many lessons in during the week, and were very excited with the success we were being given, but then on one day we had no lessons, which kind of shocked us. Then the next day, we had a few lessons, but it seemed like for the most part, they were going bad, and people were rejecting us. It was hard for Elder Orellana and I, but we pulled through it together, and I think that has helped us grow closer as a companionship. I was studying about the Fall, and why it was necessary, and it seems rather odd at first. Why would God give us two conflicting commandments, when it would inevitably lead to us having death and pain in the world? But hard times... They help us learn, grow, and strengthen relationships, with other people, and with our Savior and Father in Heaven. Except for the ones I brought on myself, I think I'm actually happy for the trials I've had in my life. Anything to get closer to Heavenly Father.

Oh yeah, I need pictures! I'll get those to you all in a few hours. I'm doing my emails in two parts, so hopefully I'll remember my camera in a few hours. :) Love you all! Thanks for the support! Til next week!

Con amor,

Elder Grant

Me and Jorge Bautista.

May 20: Second week in Oroville

Dear Family. And Friends. And everyone else.

It's been a pretty crazy week. I've officially decided that it's impossible to classify a week as "good" or "bad". Maybe you could say that about an hour. But there's too much that happens in a week, or a day to say it's one way or the other! At least for missionaries. One of our investigators, had a good friend pass away. We taught him about the resurrection, and helped him feel a bit better. However, we had committed him to come to church, and we had a lot of hope for him, but he didn't come! It is astounding to us how people can change their minds, or their feelings, or their hearts, so quickly. And yet, I realize I am pretty imperfect about that too. I can't say that I was a perfect missionary this week, but I believe that I tried to help as many people as I could. Anyway, we didn't have any people at church this week, but there are a few appointments that we have this week that we think will get people to keep the Sabbath day holy. :)

Elder Orellana is still doing great! When he learned about the mission boundary changes, he actually had an opposite reaction to mine though. I'm rather excited to, I guess you could say, start another adventure, in the far-off land of Kennewick. But Elder Orellana wishes to stay in the Spokane mission, and teach more in the English language. We are both praying right now, for us to know what is the Lord's will on where we should go, and if it might be his will, to go to the mission of our desires. I guess? I'm not really sure how to put that. But anyway, we're both doing good here, and are pretty optimistic about the week to come!

I have a renewed testimony in referrals! This week, I received my very first referral from church headquarters! We called the woman, named Candace, and she said she would like to meet us this Wednesday, and so we're super excited about that! We also visited a referral we received from one of our investigators, and we had a pretty good lesson about the restoration, and have a return appointment this tuesday! Hopefully, we're finding those that are prepared by God to become members of His church! So I'm encouraging members to continue to let the missionaries know about people that COULD be ready, and better yet, go out with them to the lesson. I've felt a pretty strong spirit when we have members in our lessons, that we just can't bring on our own as missionaries.

By the way, I feel pretty terrible. I haven't been writing many letters lately. It's been a pretty hectic week, but that's not really much of an excuse. And not only that, but I've lost the two letters that I needed to respond to, my adapter to send pictures, and my writing paper. I suspect that they're all in the same place, but I wanted to say sorry to those that have been waiting for a letter from me, and I'm going to see if I can find them, but I can't promise anything. :( I hope you can forgive me, if you have been waiting for a letter! I want to let you all know, I love you! Lots and lots! Keep the commandments! Be good and be happy!

Con amor,

Elder Grant

Using Elder Orellana's adapter for now. Here's a picture of Elder Orellana, Me and President Mullen, and of my mtc district about six months after we left the mtc.

The canadian border (I drove right up to it:) and a really pretty area called dry falls. 

May 13 Post Script: Did I forget to say this? I can't remember.

So, the Ephrata, Wenatchee, Moses Lake, and Othello stakes in the Spokane Washington Mission are officially going to the Kennewick Mission. Those four stakes have all of the spanish work in the Mission, except for two areas in Spokane. Unless something goes horribly wrong by July 1st, I am almost certainly going to the Kennewick Mission. Every missionary that is in those areas will be converted to the latter mission. I think I'm pretty positively going to stay in Oroville for a bit, so I shouldn't have anything to worry about. It's super exciting! I will be spending most of my mission in the Kennewick mission, but that's not so bad since I was pretty much in a sub-mission with those four stakes anyway. Pretty crazy! I'll give more information... If any questions are asked. Love you all!

Elder Grant

May 13, 2013. A New Area!

Dear todos vosotros,

I'm in Oroville now! It's pretty exciting to be in a new area, and very weird that I don't know where anything is. Or know every single person in town. I was told that Oroville would be a pretty small town, but it seems huge compared to Mattawa. :) I do miss Mattawa though. A lot. At times I catch myself wondering what everyone's doing there, but I don't let myself dwell on it, luckily. I think if I did, I would go a bit nuts! I actually was in Moses Lake one day, while Elder Orellana was at new district leader training, and so I've officially proselyted there, and after that we went to Ephrata and had a zone training and an exchange with the zone leaders before that. So I've also proselyted in Ephrata. It's kind of crazy, because transfers was tuesday, and so in reality, I've only been in my area for about 4-5 days, instead of being on the 7th day. Oroville is far from everything. But I like it. :) We haven't taught to many people yet, because of the crazy week, but we have quite a few appointments for the next few days, so I'm excited.

If I forgot to say this last time, the church here is about a mile from the Canadian border, and I'm planning on seeing if I can get to go out of the mission for 1 minute to be able to say I've been to Canada in the future. :) It was actually pretty hot here this past week, about 93, and even hotter than Vegas! Some members had gone to Vegas for a wedding, and come back here and were surprised by a heat wave that hasn't hit Oroville this early in the year for 70 years or something. Many of the people here live in mountainous areas, and we cover 7 small towns here. All I remember are Tenasket and Oroville. Most are super far out there, and we don't have the miles. Darn miles. But, because Elder Orellana is from Guatemala, he's not allowed to drive unfortunately. But that means fortunately for me, I get to drive a Jeep Compass with less than 2,000 miles on it! One kid asked us if we were pimp! xD I forgot my camera so pictures will have to wait a week, but suffice it to say this area is pretty mountainous, has lots of green, we're right next to lake (the house is 200 feet away from it!), and just beautiful. Sorry. Next week. :)

Elder Orellana is really funny, and he has one of the best laughs I've ever seen. He's still learning english, and I'm still learning spanish, so what we've decided is that out proselyting, we generally speak english (since the majority of our lessons are in english) and spanish everywhere else. It's super helpful being able to ask a word, and he pretty much always knows what is! He's pretty dedicated, and I've already seen that he cares about our investigators here. He really likes music in english and spanish, but I had a cd with songs in spanish and he said he really missed listening to music where they speak spanish. I guess he doesn't have any music, and most missionaries don't have spanish music. I'm happy to please. :) 

One miracle we had on Saturday, was that we were going out to see a less active at about 8 oclock, and when we go in, we find out the woman's daughter had just come back here from Tiajuana. She had never been baptized, was going through a really hard time, really wanted to go back to church, but couldn't seem to be able to make that first step. She also said she'd moved like 4 times in the past ten years, and each time she would have the missionaries show up in the area. We asked her if she would like to be baptized, and she said if she learns the book of Mormon is true, for sure, then she would! She is planning on moving to Spokane in a few weeks, but we're super happy that we found her, and we are planning on sending her address to the missionaries there once she finds a house. We really are lead to find those that are ready!

Kay, that's all I got this week! Love you all!

Elder Grant

May 6, 2013: Oroville

So, I'm getting transferred. I can hardly believe I'm going to be leaving Mattawa. I've been here for a quarter of my mission! This has been my home for what seems like forever! I feel a bit of heartache for all the people I'm going to leave, apprehensive at the people I'm going to meet, and dizzy because my feet don't seem to quite be on reality right now. So, I'm going to Oroville, which is the closest you can get to the Canadian border without going into Canada, I believe. It'll be the summer, so it shouldn't be too cold. :) I will be with Elder Orellana, who was Elder Wait's companion in Wenatchee before he came here. Elder Orellana is from Guatemala, and has been out a little under a year I believe. Elder Pinegar, my old MTC companion, is going to be replacing me here in Mattawa, and will be with Elder Wait until he goes home. We talked with him to schedule rides, and he's super excited to come to an area with so many spanish speakers! I'm leaving him a to-do list so that he'll behave and know who I think he should see. :) In other news, Elder Kelly, my Dad, is coming back to Othello, which he's been in for 6 months in the past, to be a Zone Leader here, and he will now be a Mezteco speaking missionary! Mezteco is a Native American language native to Oaxaca and Guerrero I believe, which are on the southern part of Mexico, and there are many people in Othello that only speak that language. It's not completely organized as a written language, and there's not a copy of the Book of Mormon in that language. He already learned a little bit when he was here last time, but to be able to teach in the language... It will be quite the experience for him. There will also be a companionship of Mezteco missionaries in another area in Othello. Elder Lowe, who is from Las Vegas and sang in Zion's Youth with me at one time, will be one of them. He already had learned a little bit too. Really crazy transfer. Let me talk about the area a bit.

I feel... content with my last sunday here. Reynaldo, and Jorge, the RM he's been living with, didn't go to church. But we went over later that night, and they were telling us that they feel awful. They know they've done something wrong, and want to do better. That's more than most people, I would say. We had a similar experience with the Esquivel family. They had gone to church about two months in a row during my time here, but had suddenly started ignoring us for about a month. We finally found them again yesterday, and they basically said they were sorry for pretending they weren't there earlier, and said they were going to try harder to come back to Christ. 

It's frustrating sometimes, how as missionaries, we see the grand scheme of things often. We see that the reason we're here, is so that we can live and become like God one day. Because our entire lives right now, is helping others to do that. But everyone else is full of the world, members and non-members alike. I remember when I would choose the world over more spiritual things when I was younger, and I shudder at the thought because I realize how dumb I was. How misguided. Now I know, that we have a greater purpose in this life. We are meant to achieve all of the potential that our Father in Heaven has given us. I will continue to do my best to understand other people, because I love them! I really do! And I'm going to help them realize what's really important. That church is more important than naps. That reading the scriptures is more important that watching soap operas. That people are more important that anything else in this world. Christ didn't suffer and die for money, or nice cars, or all of the luxuries of the world. He died for us. To follow His example and love people (including yourself) more than anything else in the world, is the best way we can show our love for Him.

I hope I am doing a good job! Thank you everyone that has helped me change for the better. I love you all!

Elder Grant

April 29, 2013: Last P-day for Sister Collins.

To answer the subject of the email, sister collins is a sister that has been in my zone since I was born in the mission, and she's been in my district for three transfers now, or about 4.5 months. And she's dying. It's super sad. I actually realized, that of the people in my original zone here in the field, only Sister Collins and an Elder Porter in Othello are left. Everyone's leaving! I probably will too this transfer, along with Elder Porter. It will be a different Othello zone I suppose. I guess to give a eulogy about her, she's 24 years old, and the only person I've ever met from Kansas. She's a super cool sister, and also kind of scared me sometimes. I wanted her yellow backpack, but she refused to give it to me. Um... She's blonde.... about 5'4" maybe... She has two daughters (people she trained)... And that's all I've got. Anyway, it was great knowing her. And that's pretty much it!

So, we didn't have a lot of lessons this week. Between Elder Wait getting sick again, many people ignoring us at the door, and moving twice on Saturday, we didn't do too hot. But like Joseph Smith said, this is still a great cause, and I'm going to continue on in it! Missionary work is hard. I would never EVER think about going home. There's no point. Why would you let God down? But I'll admit, I have thought about just laying down in the street and taking a very long nap. Instead I just took a nap during part of my lunch hour. :) To report, we called three people to come to church, and none of them came. :\ I think the hardest thing for people to overcome in their lives here is just plain laziness. They sleep in, and that's why most people don't come to church. Not only that though, but even when they sleep in, they still wake up an hour before church, and just don't want to do anything til one o'clock. Oh, that I were an angel, and could just convert all these people... or I could just baptize them all for the dead, but I'm not sure how much success I would have with that. Anyway, not much more to report on this week. Except the place we are currently living is where I lived for the first four months of my mission. I won't lie, I didn't expect to move back there, but oh well.

Hmm.... Spiritual experiences.... I think just humbling oneself can be a pretty powerful experience. Someone in one of our Sunday school classes said that "meekness is when you choose not to act, when you have the power or ability to do so". Sometimes I just want to protest, or argue, or fight back when I feel like I'm being wronged. But sometimes, the spirit whispers, that it's not worth it. It's not the right thing to do. I do believe that at times, you are supposed to stand up for yourself. But there are also moments, when you need to submit. Just because you might want to do something, doesn't mean it's the will of God. Another thing, I can't remember if I already have said this, is the combination lock of heaven. It was from a talk I read I think from a Seventy. There are three things that need to match up if you want the doors of heaven to open, and have blessings be poured out on you. One, you need to have Faith that you can receive it. Two, you need to have personal worthiness. And third, it needs to be the Lord's will. If all we needed were the first two, then we would be very spoiled indeed. :) But God knows best, and if we receive blessings, it's because He knows we should have them.

To explain why I haven't been sending pictures lately, it's because I usually carried around my camera in my suit coat pocket, but now we don't need suits and I don't have any (safe) pockets to put it in. So I haven't been taking pictures. Sorry bout that! Maybe once I go to a new area.

Con amor,

Elder Grant

April 22, 2013: What am I even supposed to put as the subject??

Dear many loved ones,

So, our house flooded this morning. Woops. It was only a little bit though. Apparently old washers will sometimes keep running more and more hot water on certain settings... It was kind of upsetting, because it disturbed out study time. We noticed it after only about five minutes of flooding though, so we were able to clean it all up before any damage was made. Still not exactly what you want to deal with, but it wasn't caused by our lack of knowledge (we think), and the house actually looks cleaner now that a bunch of soapy water covered a large portion of the floor (we don't have a big house, so it spread to about 1/3 of the house pretty quickly). Anyway, during my study time, I learned not to go cheap on my washers.

We didn't have any major investigators at church this week, Reynaldo went to tri-cities for "lonche". Lonche sometimes means groceries, and other times means lunch. I don't use it, because in reality almuerzo is lunch, and lonche is spanglish. I don't like spanglish. Anyway, off topic. We found a couple new people this week, and they hesitantly said they're not interested, and invited us back next week. There are many people like that here. People want to say they're not interested, but we as missionaries can see when the spirit is working on people. The hard part is getting people to open up to that spirit. We had to drop Crispin, a long time investigator, because he wasn't progressing. I'll talk more about him later. It's hard for us to stay mad at Reynaldo though, since he's still really awesome, and he's making lots of progress on his divorce papers, so while I most likely won't see him get baptized, it seems he'll be able to within a few months. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside, because someone I started teaching is going to make the most important step in his life. :) Haha, missions make you soft, I've noticed. If it doesn't then you're not doing it right. Anyway, onto about Crispin.

So, it's kind of hard for me to measure the hardest things I've done in my life, but dropping Crispin was definitely up there. I was actually on an exchange with Elder Leavitt, the new missionary in Royal City, and we passed by to let Crispin know that we can't keep visiting him if he doesn't make any progress. This is the family that I had actually told Elder Wait in the past, "they're my favorite family to visit!" When I told him that we couldn't pass by if they didn't read, or go to church, or anything, Crispin responded by saying "It's okay, I understand". The only watery eyes in the house were mine. I realized that they were choosing not to change, and that they've been dropped before. They were used to it. I was just another missionary.

I've come to realize that Christ really does love us more than we love him. I've come to realize that, because I feel I've had just a taste of what that's like, as a missionary who loves his investigators more than they love him. I believe the Cruz family do love me. I also believe that they're not ready yet. They are, but they choose not to be. If that makes sense. We're going to keep making contact with Crispin and his family, but they will not be one of our investigators or a priority. It was hard to accept at first, but feeling the comfort of the Spirit... I don't know. I shouldn't feel this way, but I think everything's going to be okay. I've done my best. I can only hope for the best for them. 

In short, being a missionary is very hard, and it's also the most rewarding thing in my life. Even if I haven't baptize anyone yet.

Love,

Elder Grant

Lost somewhere in the transfer.

Yeah, I can't even remember where I'm at right now. I won't lie, I feel like I've been in Mattawa for years. The members are starting to tell me, "You've been here a while now, huh?" I keep getting told the meaning of Mattawa is "Where is it?" Do all missionaries go crazy? I'm going to say yes, and I'm one of the healthier ones, because I recognize it.

Another week passes by. We didn't have anyone in church, and of the members, many didn't go also. This season is hard for missionary work, so I've heard, because everyone starts working on the farms on Sundays, including members unfortunately. I'm hoping we'll be able to find a new job for some of our investigators, that doesn't have them working on Sunday, but we'll see how that goes. We've been trying to find more people, but we tend to either get ignored when knocking, or get strange responses. Such as, me asking "Hi! What's your name!" and the person cracked in the doorway, pausing for a moment, and responding "...Why?". I gave them a strange look, that kind of expressed, "What kind of question is that?" Anyway, we still haven't been able to find many new people, and the new people we have found we have been dropping pretty fast. We're praying pretty hard that God will help us find the people that are prepared for the Gospel. 

Random experience I had this week. Don't take this the wrong way, but I made the strange decision that I don't want to ever get married except in the temple. So far, while I've been out here, I've seen a lot of marriages, and a lot of "partnerships". More of those partnerships. And generally, they're all broken, except for the people that were married or sealed in the temple. I have no idea who I'm going to marry one day, and luckily, I don't have to think about that right now because I'm a missionary. :) But whereas before I might have thought about trying to marry someone and convert them later, I've now made a resolve to only marry within the temple. The temple is a lot prettier than any other place you could get married anyways.

Something I thought I should mention, is that a few weeks ago I met my Stake President's sister in law. That was pretty cool. She told me a story of how President Teshima once scared her little boy, and she was so mad at him. :) Which is funny, because I've only thought of him as a big teddy bear. Something we've been doing for service recently is shelving books. It's kind of difficult, because I really miss reading books, but I pull through. We also walked a dog one time that weighed more than Elder Wait. His name is Prince, and he's a Great Dane. So far I have avoided eating any kind of fish, menudo (which is cow stomach, intestines, etc.), and chocolate covered grasshoppers (Elder Kelly ate those). I've learned that the best way to make people change, is provide them an example, love them, and try to remind them to do better (when they want it). And I've learned a little how the Savior feels, because as he loves us more than we can ever understand, I love my investigators more than they will likely ever understand.

Hope that was a decent letter! Con amor,

Elder Grant

General Conference week

I can't believe it's been six months since last conference! It seems like yesterday that I was watching it in the MTC with thousands of screaming fans (missionaries) celebrating the new age change. The mission passes so fast. I'm... I think 35 now? In weeks. Elder Wait is old. He's in his 90's I think. He's ready to die.

I think it's hard for me to push myself sometimes. I wonder at times, if Christ really does want me to push myself harder when I already feel like breaking. And then I realize, He doesn't really want me to try harder, but He wants to make my life easier. So I'm focusing on the Savior, and His Atonement, and trying to become more like Him. I never understand things like this. I can only tell you the consequences, or after-affects. I'm not exactly sure how it all works myself, even as I do it, but there's something about giving up your will, praying to God, in the Savior's name, and humbling submitting to His will, that makes you stronger. Greater. Happier. And I can see it. I can see my life looking up. It's kind of like a sunrise, slowly, but surely raising your soul closer to God.

Well, enough of the cheesy stuff. This week, the only investigator that we know of that watched conference was Reynaldo. He saw the fourth session, with President Monson's talk. I feel kind of bad, because many of the speakers were speaking on marriage, and he's married a woman in Mexico, and living with someone else now, and he wants to get baptized, but wants to be divorced and marry his partner right now first. But I don't think he took it badly. The important thing is that he saw the Prophet speak. There hasn't really been much progress in our other investigators here, so right now we're working on finding more people. We'll see if we can't find those that are prepared here in Mattawa. 

I forgot my little card thingy that my mom gave me, so I can't think of anything else to write this week. And I forgot my camera. Woops. Til next week everyone!

Con amor,

Elder Grant

End of week 1 for transfer 4. (I've been out six months now?!?!?)

So, about Mattawa. Reynaldo didn't come to church this week, and we don't really understand why. We had 3 lessons with him this past week, and they were all really good. He's already got a testimony of the Gospel, and he wants to get baptized. He still has to get divorced to someone in Mexico, but he says he's already got that underway. We've got an appointment with him today, and will have to see what's up. One of our investigators, Crispin, and his family, didn't go to church because they slept in. And then decided to rearrange the house that day. We had to tell them, that we couldn't keep coming over if they didn't repent, or show that they were changing or doing anything. We're going to have to see how seriously they take us. They really like having us over, so we're not sure what they'll do. Gricelda, our on-date for baptism, didn't come, and she wants to get baptized still, but we're not really sure how serious she is about it... We told her that she has to go to church and get married, and she said she wants to do that, but she didn't truly seem sure of herself. We may have to change her date from the 27 of April. Emelia is a lady we met earlier this week. We'd actually met her quite a while back, but we couldn't go in because she is a single mom. We believe her husband passed away recently, and she has a 16 year old girl, and a little girl about 5 or 6. She was really interested when we finally were able to teach her, and so were her kids. The 16 year old's boyfriend seemed to think the lesson and the prayer was a pain, but hopefully she will dump him soon, once she sees the light of the Gospel. :) Hm. Maybe I shouldn't put things like that in my letters now that I think about it...

In other news, I love wearing short sleeve shirts! I wore one for the first time thursday, and it's the best. So freeing. We also celebrated Easter here, and that was pretty fun. Our Bishop's son got baptized on Saturday, and we got to attend that, so that was pretty cool. Also, if any of you get the chance, watch the Bible Video, "He is Risen". One of the best videos the church has ever done in my opinion. Hope you all remember Christ in your lives during this season!

Con amor,

Elder Grant

First week of the fourth transfer. March 25, 2013

Elder Bennet is staying in Othello as Zone Leader and getting his MTC companion,

 Elder Aguilar is staying in Royal City and training.

Sister Worlton is going to Wenatchee and Sister Collins is staying in Royal City to train.

So, I'm staying in Mattawa another six weeks, and Elder Wait is still my companion. It's kind of surprising, since we both have so much time here! I'm up to about 4 months, and he's at about 8-9 months now in Mattawa. Not much changing here. Although we are moving today, so there goes our P-day, unfortunately. But, oh well.

So, after quite a few tougher weeks, I had a week with 20 lessons for the first time! I feel accomplished, but at the same time, I remember, it's really not my success. Every good thing comes from God, right? I'm happy to be a helpful instrument in the Lord's hands. This work is stressful. I'll admit it. But well, I suppose it's supposed to be when you're dealing with the most important things in existence. People, human souls, including us! It's frustrating when you watch someone fail to act on the spirit that they've time and time again, but when I've done my best, I've felt our Heavenly Father's love comforting me, letting me know they have a choice, but I've done well. I've done something. I've invited them to know their Savior, and if they turn it down, well, you can't decide for them. Well, to talk about investigators, Reynaldo who we recently started teaching went to church again, and we invited him to be baptized, but he said he wants to wait to have a date til he's married. Gricelda, Jorge Bautista's brother, had a church tour with us and accepted a date to be baptized, but didn't go to church. Gabriel wants to go to church, and be baptized too, but he doesn't want to live the law of chastity yet, or obey the Sabbath day every week, or obey the Word of Wisdom. He'll get baptized one day, I'm sure of it, but most likely not while I'm here in Mattawa.

I'm super tired, we've been working on moving today, so I'm going to make this one short. Sorry bout that! I'll work on getting back to everyone, thanks for the support! Til next week!

Elder Grant

March 18, 2013: Elder Camacho's last P-day.

 Elder Camacho, the Peruvian who has been my zone leader since I was born (in the mission), is leaving Spokane and going home to Peru next week. It makes me super sad. He's the best. He would always give me funny looks. He just told me its super impressive that I can type without looking, because he can't. He's great. :) I'm gonna miss him. The crazy thing is that he's got his girlfriend back home, who's got a really good job in the medical field, she has a car (which is really hard in Peru) and she already has their apartment for when they get married. He's so dead. That's what missionaries say about someone who's about to end their mission. :) But that one picture was of Elder Camacho, and the rest are of Sister Collins, Elder Aguilar, Elder Bennet, Elder Hoefelman (he's a visa waiter going to Peru. He's with the zone leaders), and Sister Worlton. We're all doing emails. :)

I'm pretty sure there was a bunch of stuff I was planning on writing, but I'll just say the stuff about my area. Good ol' Mattawa. 

Well, this was a pretty tough week! Dalia, who was our most promising investigator, isn't attending the english classes anymore, her kids aren't going to mutual, she's sleeping in instead of going to church, and she's not very excited to see us. Crispin has told us the reason he doesn't read the Book of Mormon is because he doesn't understand it, and he told us about a lot of problems in his family that have been going on, that have kept him from church. And seemingly none of our less-active members are going to church. And Reynaldo, who seemed to be progressing, forgot about church and didn't go. 

The mission is hard.

I'm growing so much. It's the refiner's fire. I remember one day this week thinking, "Wow. I haven't had a lot of days as tough as this one." And then I read in D&C 122. It's kind of funny. It's a scripture that isn't really all that comforting, but it's kind of saying, "You're going through this for a reason. I never said getting a body, learning about life, and becoming like me would be easy. But remember, the Savior suffered and died for you, so that you would be able to overcome this. You can do it. And I promise that I will never leave you if you do." I don't know. Maybe I'm just crazy. In fact, I know I am. But I know my Savior, and my Father, are with me. I might feel like I've been knocked to the ground sometimes, but Christ always has his hand outstretched to help me up again.

I'm so glad that I'm on this mission. I can't believe how happy I am about myself. About who I am. I know I'm not perfect, but when I think about my faults, I just don't see the point of it. Why think of what's wrong in life, when I can think of what's right, and be happy?

Oh, and you people need to E-mail me. I got nuthin' this week! Much love :)

Elder Grant

March 13, 2013: Temple week!

So, the reason that I am sending this E-mail on Wednesday, is because we went to the temple today, and it changes our Pday. Sorry. I kind of failed to tell you guys that last week. :) The other big thing that we found out rather recently is that there is a big change in the way the E-mails work now.... I can now E-mail ANYONE! :D Crazy huh? If anyone, anyone at all, wants to send an email to me, its not against the rules. The only setback is that I only get another half-hour on emails, so I might have to print out some and hand-write the letters. But It will still make contact MUCH quicker now with people. :) Oh. And if you've been waiting for a letter from me, I got all caught up on letters today! Yay for two two-and-a-half-hour trips to Spokane and back!

So, the work goes on, and once again, it's kind of a more or less week. We had only one investigator at church, but he's progressing so much!! His name is Reynaldo, and I'm pretty sure I've talked about him before, but he's just so interested, and he really cares, and really wants to change his life. It means a lot to see someone repent. It reminds us as missionaries that we're not doing EVERYTHING wrong. :) It was kind of hard Saturday night when our other investigators told us, that they were definitely not going to church the next day. I can usually take it pretty well when they don't show up. When they have good intentions, and fail to go, at least they told us they wanted to. But when they were planning on failing us... that was a tough day. It wasn't an experience I had really had before. I don't think it helped that they could have gone, but it was just their favorite time to go grocery shopping. Ah well. I believe that they will find the light one day. In the mean time, I've done my best to bring them happiness.

Elder Wait and I are doing good. Sometimes I think he worries about things, that he can't change, a little bit too much, but hey, I do too. :) We went to the temple today together, and it was pretty nice. It will be one of his last trips, since he only has two transfers left. Poor guy. He hates when others ask him how much time he has left, but he doesn't really show any signs of trunkiness. ;) It's interesting how much he knows some of the members here. But I guess when you've been here for seven and a half months in the past, you're going to know a lot of people.

At the temple, I felt like... I was back home. A home I don't really remember that well. But even though I've never been to the Spokane Temple before, there was the same spirit, the same sense that you were in God's house. I was back at home with God. I really needed it, I realized. I didn't realize it til I got there though. I just looked at it, and even though it was a small temple, you could feel the grandness of it. Within the session room, as we waited for it to start, I just felt so incredibly happy and at peace. I feel a sense of longing for it now. I can't wait to go back. :) 

Hm... Oh yeah, pictures! One is of Elder Wait, and the other is of me at the temple. Enjoy!

Con amor,

Elder Grant

March 4, 2013: Week 2 in the 5 week transfer.

I came to the startling realization that I am now closer to the age of 20 than I am to 19. I'm so filthy old. Ew. I can't relate with High School students anymore. This is really weird. Lets move on to my main letter.

Well, we have an on-date. The first one I've had in three months. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to find him again, and he has to get married. Hm. I can't lie, this was another hard week. Although, we did get Gabriel to go to church again. He needs to have his baby, and get married to his girlfriend (or move out) but he's shown so much faith, that I know he'll get baptized one day. He reads every time, has noticed how different our church is, how much he feels the spirit, and how right the Book of Mormon feels. He's just very conservative, and needs his time. We have many new investigators this week, although, I'm not sure how many will end up progressing. Although, one investigator, named Reynaldo, asked US if he could take the lessons. He's the "partner" of the sister of a recently returned missionary, and he's really excited to take the discussions. He's asked to have lessons with us twice a week, and when we've come back, he's read everything we asked an more. He's eager to learn, and it's nice because Jorge, the RM, is able to be a third missionary with us and help make sure he understands and knows everything he needs. He needs to get married, but I think he'll be baptized in the future too.

Elder Wait is pretty diligent. He tries to get everything done, and is focused on keeping everything in order. He has the blessing of a strong desire to keep our house clean, which at times other missionaries don't have. The only thing I worry about him is that sometimes I think he forgets to slow down and enjoy life. But other than that, he's a pretty good companion, and I'm lucky to have him.

This week I had our investigator for our ward (our only english investigator) ask me rather fiercely, how I could know. How I know all of this is true. How could I possibly declare such a thing, when millions profess the same thing about other churches, and other religions? I thought about it, and answered him, that I would be lying if I said that I have never doubted. That my testimony is perfect. That I had seen God the Father, and Jesus Christ, as Joseph Smith had. 
But I knew that God has made himself known to me. I've felt it. I know I've felt it, and whether I like it or not, it's true. Luckily, I do like it. :) Because it has brought me hope. So much hope. No matter what happens in life, I know I have a purpose, I know why I'm here, and I know I can overcome anything. I know, I will be happy.

I've been pretty slow on writing letters, so sorry to those waiting for me! I'm trying to write more after emails. I promise to get back to you in less than a month! Man... I'm terrible. Oh well.

Love,

Elder Grant

First week gone by without Elder Kelly (AKA Dad) and first week gone by in a five week transfer.

Yeah, so, my mission got cut by one week. We're being put on to a different track, transfer-wise, and so this transfer is five weeks instead of six. Kinda crazy! Also, two new missions will be made in Washington, and we have been assured that the boundaries for the western part of the mission (the spanish side) WILL change. Kinda crazy.... We'll see what will happen. We will receive news of the exact changes in about 7 weeks I believe. On to talk about the area.

 

We weren't able to see Dalia much this week, and we never taught her. Many cancelled member lessons, unfortunately. But we're going to work on that with the Bishop and the Branch President. We had one investigator, Crispin, go to the adult session of Stake Conference... and the leader's session.... But not Stake Conference itself. I'm not quite sure why. Silly investigators. Yeah, Stake Conference made it so we didn't really have anyone at church... Except less-actives! We did help less-active members get to it. Other than that, it was a pretty slow week I guess.

Elder Wait is very different from Elder Kelly. He's a good guy though. He's got a lot of experience, and he's also rather quiet. It's kind of crazy that he came back here to Mattawa, when he was here for 7 and a half months before! I don't really need to show him around much. That's pretty handy. Plus he already knows a lot of the people here. We're trying some formers that he knew about. Hopefully we will be able to find some people that are prepared!

I went out with a member, the bishop's son, who is going on his mission in one week. He got his call, for the Nevada Las Vegas Mission, (we're switching places!) and his report time was a month later! Super soon. I was teaching with him for several hours, when Elder Wait was at a meeting for leaders in Ephrata. We taught a couple of people, and saw many others. I think it gave him a taste of what the mission is like. He's twenty two years old, and has worked very hard to go on a mission, and he's really excited to go. I think one of the best things members and missionaries can do, is get a taste of each other's lives by teaching together. It lets each of us understand more about what the other's experiences are, and know who they are. It's odd. As a missionary, it gets harder and harder to remember what it's like to be on the other side. But it's one of the most important things to remember I think. When we know how other's feel, we can make better decisions on pretty much everything!

 

So, the pictures. One is of Brother and Sister Ruiz, who are super cool members, both are practicing their english, and have given us some of our best investigators. The second is of Dalia, our most ready investigator, and her two kids Manny and Jacky. or Emmanuel and Jaqueline. They're the best!

 

That's all this week. Con amor,

 

Elder Grant

 

The end of training, and the beginning of my third transfer.

We finally got Dalia and her kids to come to church again! That made Elder Kelly super happy (on the inside. He doesn't always show his outside happiness. heehee) and I made sure to let them know it was good they were there. We weren't able to get Crispin and his family, or Gabriel to church, but I guess you can't have everything. We found a lot of new investigators in the past week, which makes Elder Kelly happy that he's leaving with a bigger number of people to teach. The days are getting warmer, and we've started to wear just our suits, no coats. It's kind of nice that Mattawa is warmer than most of the mission. Overall, we had one of our best weeks this past one, and we've got a good few hours scheduled after P-day today, with two family home evenings with non-members scheduled. We're excited for that. So, another week in the Royal City District goes by.

Elder Kelly is sad to go leave Mattawa, but he's pretty good at dealing with it. He's also very scared to become Zone Leader. :) Okay, not very scared. Just the usual feelings of apprehension that someone would feel when they're about to become a Zone Leader. I'm glad he was my trainer; he's a good missionary. I would try and claim that he's perfect, but we all have a lot to learn! So much to learn. Anyway, I'm interested to see what Elder Wait is going to be like. I've heard he's actually been in Mattawa for a long time in the past, so I won't have to worry as much about teaching him about the area. We're going to have to see what happens. :)

I was reading in the Joseph Smith History yesterday, and I got to a part that has, I think, my favorite quote by Joseph Smith in it. It is in the twenty-fifith verse, and it says, "I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it," I think it's my favorite, because I can relate to it so much. I know that I have received countless answers from God, and I know that the signs of His presence are all around me. I know, and I know that He knows it, and I cannot deny it. And that is another thing that builds my testimony. Just remembering, "I know".

 

That's all I got this week. Hope you all have a good week!

 

Con amor, Elder Grant

Last week of training.

We didn't get everyone to go to church that we wanted this week, but we did get Crispin this week. Many people feel like we're wasting our time with him and his family, but he's showing he's changing, bit by bit, because he's gone to church I believe 4 times in the past 8 weeks. He says he's still not ready for baptism, but its baby steps. In the mean time, we're inviting him to take big steps, for when he's ready to do that. :) Other than that, it was a pretty hard week. I don't usually think that, but I'll admit it. It's okay. I didn't come on the mission to have an easy time, I came to learn and grow! Well, I've said too much for this paragraph. 

I love how you can notice when the Lord is comforting you. When you have a hard day, and yet for some ridiculous reason, you still have peace. I think that's one of the best witnesses I receive, when there's no reason for you to be happy, and you are anyway. Someone else is giving it to you.

We helped someone take in their groceries just randomly this week. I've been wanting to do that for a while! She made us take some tiny oranges as thanks. We felt bad, since we didn't want her to give us something for what we wanted to be service, but in the Latino culture, it's generally better to accept what's offered, then to deny it. Even if you have had ten tacos already.

Just a little thing I love to notice, is when Elder Kelly and I are planning, and he says some random idea, that came into my head about the same time. The spirit really does help us. :) We need quite a bit of it. 

We still haven't moved out of our old place. The owner is coming home in about five days. We're freaking out! We don't want to live with an old lady! But we might have to. Our Bishop said on his mission he always lived with old widows, and that one time, one of them would make him and his companion light her cigarette for her. Awkward. Luckily, ours is a member.

Okay, I'll hopefully have more time for a better letter next week!

Elder Grant

I'm done being trained in two weeks!

So, this week we got someone at church that is actually progressing! Gabriel is super awesome, he has said he notices the difference between our church and other churches (our church doesn't bash on others) and he wants to get baptized, except after his baby is born. That's the hard part. He's not married to the girl. And they would probably get married in the Catholic church if they did get married. We'll work things out though. His partner/girlfriend/thing says she's really seen him change in his time that he's been talking to us. And we have finally gotten him started on reading the Book of Mormon from the beginning, so we're super excited for that. He's such a cool guy. We're excited for him.

 

We gave a blessing to a father of a less active family yesterday. The mom and dad were arguing for a long time, and we had to go, so we kind of found our way into sharing a short message, and prepared to leave, but they wanted a blessing. So we first tried to give it to their like one-year-old baby, but he kept moving his head, so I'm not sure it worked. Then we gave one to the dad, and that brought the spirit back, right before we left. It's interesting, how lost people can be, yet when you show them a touch of the spirit again, they calm down. It's like a small miracle. Miracles are awesome. :)

 

 Did I mention the sisters in out district came into their area, and had a baptism in three weeks? Sister missionaries are either the best, or the... not best in the mission. Darn them sister missionaries. Helping so many people.

 

We had specialized training this week, and we learned how to teach the lessons, which usually take at least twenty minutes, in about 5-8 minutes, so that an 8 year old could understand it. Which, spiritually, is the level most of the people we teach are at. It's the first time that I've felt like I've taught REALLY well in my life. It's amazing how much better teaching simply is! You don't need to go into details! I love it so much.

 

Oh, let me give you guys my favorite scriptures.

 

D&C 18:10, Matthew 14:31, Jacob 6:12, D&C 121:7, Romans 13:12, Moses 1:39, Proverbs 3:5, D&C 50:26, D&C 63:47, Ether 12:4, Alma 37:6, and the best one, D&C 122:7-9.

 

That's all this week. :) Con amor,

 

Elder Grant

 

Oh, yeah, the pictures. The first one is the second dog to try and bite me. The first one was a foot high and had three legs. The second picture is me in Mattawa!