September 17: Last week of the transfer... and a late email.

So, yesterday we got locked out of the Family History Center, and we weren't able to email. So we got approval to do it today at the library (library is closed on monday). So... Hope noone was worrying too bad! And I also hope that some people noticed. :)

The last week is coming up for the transfer, and I've got a feeling about it. We'll see what happens. I've always said it's boring when nothing happens for transfers anyway. :)

I think I'm actually building a testimony of the Bible! I've started reading in it, and it actually has a lot of good stuff. Kind of like missionary work, you just have to wade through a lot of work to get to the good stuff ;). E.G. four chapters of how to do different sacrifices can be pretty slow.... But right now, I am reading in Leviticus, and I'm almost to Numbers. I'm just hoping that with 15 minutes a day, I'll be able to finish it before the end of my mission!

I need to start writing down things to write about in these letters. Anyone got ideas? I'm still having cool experiences... I just forget about them. xD So I think I need to repent and start doing that. Help me out! I love you all!

September 9: P-day

I decided to talk about our average P-day and work day this email. So, in some areas, "P"-day, means play day! However, up here in Oroville, it is Preparation day.

Here is an average P-day, if we go to Omak. We wake up at 6:30 of course, and start our laundry immediately. If we do, we are able to finish it by the time studies are over. At 8 we do Personal Study, and at 9 we do an hour of companion study. That's all the study we do on P-day, and so after that, we have to wash the car, clean the apartment, and get ready to go to Omak. Then we drive the 45 miles to the closest Walmart, and do our shopping there. Then we write the family for 1.5 hours, on email, and use our other time to write real letters. So, between 1 hour of cleaning, 1.5 hours of driving, half an hour of shopping, and 1.5 hours of emailing, and a half hour of whatever delays come up that day, we SHOULD have about 3 hours of free time. I don't know where that goes, because it's not there when the day finishes at 6! That's when we start proselyting again.

For a regular day for Elder Cramer and I, we get up at 6:30, eat breakfast, shower, exercise, and get ready for the day. 8 is Personal Study, 9-11 Companion Study, 11 is Lunch (YES!), and then at noon is Language Study. We finally start proselyting at 1, until about 4 usually. We then have dinner, and then at 5-9 we are proselyting again. 8-9 used to be easy to get appointments, but now it's getting dark at that time, and we often times, have to try a few places before we get a lesson or whatever. Often times we will be doing service around 1pm-4, but if we aren't, those hours can be slow as well. Overall, we usually teach 2, or 3 lessons a day. Then at 9 we do Daily Planning for the next day, then at about 9:45, we get ready for bed, and we are in bed at 10:30.

And then we start all over again.

Oh the busy, but fulfilling day of a Missionary! There are many hardships, but I love it. :) I think that's all I've got for this week, please please please ask me questions, so I know what to say in these emails! Les quiero!

Elder Grant

September 2: Half-way through... another transfer!

Hey everyone! 

I've been slacking on my emails lately, so I'm going to try and give a good one this time. So, this week, noone at church. :( It's been a little rough, because the Thomas Family, who went four weeks in a row, haven't been for 3 weeks now, and have stuff coming up for the next two weeks. They're making  it a habit of not coming! Not intentionally, but we won't be able to teach them for a while, and it's killing us, but I suppose SOMEONE will baptize them. Us missionaries just want everything to happen while we're there. Delia and Maria, also didn't come, even though they said they would. 3 times. And they are leaving in late October, so they have a deadline! We also haven't been able to teach Salvador because of a couple times where he forgot our appointment, but he still has a lot of potential, is on date for the 28th of this month, and we just need to start getting him to church! Pray that all of these people will come!

With Kim... I've been teaching Kim for a while now, and I've gotten to know him pretty well. He finally made it very clear though, that he's not really sure that he believes in one true Gospel. That there's more than one way to get to heaven, and God again. We showed him 2 Nephi 31: 21, and asked him to pray about it. He is reading the scriptures, says he's been asking God about it, and is attending church about every other week. Just pray that he will get his answer, and recognize it. He needs this Gospel. And he needs to know it's strait and narrow, and it's the only way. Pray for him!

Funny story... So, Elder Cramer is a pretty confident missionary, but he still doesn't know the Book of Mormon perfectly. We were teaching a less-active member, and he was looking in the index for "rest" I believe, and scriptures that relate to that. He found a chapter that said that a lot, and decided we could read that with our investigator. That chapter was Moroni 9. He didn't know what he was getting into. :) If you don't know what's in that chapter, read it. :) I'm still giving him a hard time for it!

Also, there's a member named Jason, who I recently (like a month or two ago?) had the oppurtunity to participate in his ordination to the Melchizedek Priesthood. He's come a long way, and we've been helping him out as much as we can. He's a middle aged guy, and he's an officer in the Border Patrol up here. And he explained everything about it, and now being a border patrol agent is one of the careers I'm thinking about haha! I would most likely be able to work down in Arizona, which is hot, but closish to the family... And there's a lot of nice things about it. We took a tour of the station up here, and it's pretty nice... So... We'll see what happens. :)

No new pictures.... I haven't really taken any. And I can't find one of my memory cards, so at the very least, I'm hoping all these pictures I've sent are saved somewhere back home. But anyway, thanks for all the love and support! I really appreciate it, y les quiero tambien! Contestenme! Hasta la proxima semana!

Elder Grant

another note:

So, I used to HATE fast Sunday. I'll admit it. I couldn't stand going without food, and I complained, and grumbled, all day long. I didn't understand why we fast. On my mission, the first fast Sunday, I warned Elder Kelly, "I might not be able to make it through the full 24 hours." My attitude has completely changed though, I feel. I am still hungry. But I feel humble also, and I love it. I love feeling closer to the Savior. This week, we also did a ward fast for all of the youth in the ward, and I was able to focus on how I could help those less active youth that we visit. It is something of a cleansing, and I'm going to commit from here on out, to never complain about fast Sunday again. It is something the Lord has commanded us to do, because he knows it will bring us more happiness. So there really is no reason to complain! :) 

August 26: Well...

My computer is acting up a lot, I need to write to the President, and I don't know what to say! Suffice it to say, I had a pretty good week, taught lots of lessons, and listened to the Prince of Egypt soundtrack that I got pretty much non-stop. We dropped our 5 on-dates, but got two more, and have quite a few more promising people. Hope you all have a good week! Mucho amor,

Elder Grant

2 more pictures

A picture of the legendary Pedro de la Cerda, and the AP's, Elder Bennet and Elder Snow.

August 19: Just another week up in Oroville.

Dear Family and Friends,

So, it's just been a pretty regular week up here. Elder Cramer and I had some good days, some bad days, there wasn't a lot of progress though with our investigators. It's frustrating for us, because we want it all to happen so much faster. But sometimes, conversion happens very slowly. Sometimes unbearably slowly. This week, unfortunately no one that we were waiting on to come to church were able to make it. We did get in some lessons with Kim and the Thomas Family. They are all progressing, but we haven't set a baptismal date for them yet, and Kim especially has told us he will take some time to find out if the Book of Mormon is true. I think with dread, of how long Brigham Young took to get baptized (I believe it was about a year?). The end result is what's most important, but it sure would be nice to see him get baptized! 

We did have a meeting this week in Moses Lake, where I drove all the way from the Far North, for three hours with only one break. I think it's the longest I've driven in one sitting. Kind of interesting. I feel rather old. My experience with car trips is that I am the one sleeping in the back, with my dad staying awake driving the car. Now I'm the dad. :)

pictures of the scenery up here:

You can see Oroville in this one if you look real close.

August 12: No time!

I'm staying in oroville with Elder Cramer for another six weeks! I got no time to email a good letter though. Sorry about that. Hope you all have a nice week! Mucho amor,

Elder Grant

August 6: Temple Day!

Querida familia y amigos,

Okay, so I'm going to have to make this a short email, because we don't have much time. We drove from Oroville to Omak, a 45 minute drive, last night, and then we drove from Omak to the temple in Tri-Cities this morning at 4 am! We did a temple session at 8am (super cool, It's different, for those of you who have been to the temple before, I would recommend going to the temple as soon as possible. :) which lasted for 2.5 hours. It was overflowing, I don't think they expected so many missionaries to show up! It's been about 5 months I think since I last went to the temple, so I was DYING to go back. That was my first time in the Tri-Cities, and it was crazy being in a city larger than 100,000 people again! I guess I was in Spokane pretty recently too though. Afterward, we went to Olive Garden (first time in months!) with our zone, who is in the picture of the temple. We are the smallest zone in the mission, with only ten missionaries. :) And after that, we drove back to Ephrata, for 2 hours, and here we will stay until tomorrow, when we will drive to Wenatchee for an hour, to another meeting, and then back home to Oroville for two more hours. It's a pretty hectic week, but I love it. :) I've begun to crave change too much on my mission!

The pictures are both in front of the Columbia river temple, and 

starting from the left, the missionaries are:

Elder Porter, who has been in my zone since I came to the field, and is currently my zone leader; 

Elder Thibadeau, who is my district leader, and was recently transferred to Omak from the Kennewick mission; 

Elder Penrod who I actually met before my mission when he came from SUU to Bonzanza to talk about choir stuff, and is also in Omak; 

Hermana Mierow, who was in my zone in Othello for quite a while and is in Quincy;

Hermana Lloyd who is a new missionary, and speaks better spanish than me, and is in Ephrata; 

Hermana Williams who is a missionary from Kennewick and in Ephrata; 

Hermana Rhody who has been in Quincy her entire mission so far;

 a missionary that needs a hair-cut but doesn't have time this P-day; 

Elder Cramer, my 2nd step-son; 

and finally E. Paxton, who has been my zone leader for two transfers now and was previously E. Pinegar's companion.

I don't like how I look in that picture, but it will do. Thanks for all the love everyone, I'll try and write better next week. Les extrano!

Elder Grant

July 29: So tired.

 The last time I saw President and Sister Mullen, with my district: Elder Heward, Elder Reid, and Elder Penrod. 

Proof that I do service

Dear Loved ones,

I am so tired. That's how I feel. I feel happy. But so tired. I recently made a goal to try and nap more during our meal times. We've been so busy though, that I haven't had time. On the bright side though, me and my companion just made Zucchini bread, which reminded me of the first time I had that in Logan. :) 

I know I'm supposed to write a lot for these e-mails, but it's SO hard when I just want to do nothing on P-day, and when I feel horrible when I did nothing on P-day, so my desire to write people, to nap, and to go on an adventure are all clashing. And I've been failing on pictures again, but I should have some of the temple in Kennewick next Tuesday. We are a five mile drive from the temple x) so we will be driving to omak on monday night, staying there and waking up at 3am there, and then arriving in Tricities to go to the 8 or 9 session and then we will spend the day in Ephrata on Tuesday, so that we can work with the missionaries there, and THEN we will go to Wenatchee on Wednesday for a new missionary training. I can't wait, I love busy weeks! :) 

This was a tough week for the area. While we had the chance to teach a lot of active members, a lot of appointments cancelled, and we ended up with ten lessons on Saturday evening. That was a shocker to me. I can't remember the last time my lessons were so low. I feel like I need to work harder. But I also realize that we worked hard to invite people to Christ, and that the success is in what I can do, and not in what the investigator necessarily does. But people coming to church would be nice! We had a total of 6 people that we were hoping to come, but there weren't any people we were already teaching. BUT, there's a super great family, that has come two weeks in a row, that while we weren't able to make an appointment last week, we now have an appointment to go and visit this week. It seems like EVERYONE in the ward knows them, everyone wants to help out in the lesson, and a few people have told us they want dinner-lessons set up. Dinner-lessons are missionary's favorites! We teach, AND we eat! We have SUPER high hopes for this family. We'll see how it all goes. Sofia has been reading now that she has the Gospel Library app on her phone, and but she couldn't come to church because of her work schedule. Kim will be able to come to church this coming week, and we have an appointment with him tonight. Josh, and Patty, the other two main people that said they could come we haven't been able to contact. So pray that Sofia and Kim can come to church this coming Sunday, and that we can find Josh and Patty this week somewhere!

I was on an exchange with Elder Porter this week, who has been in my zone since the beginning of my mission. It's always nice to have someone you can call a long-term friend around. Anyway, we were down in Ephrata, and I was reminded of how much easier it is to be a new, junior companion! I didn't have to worry about any of the appointments, because I didn't know what they were! I didn't think about all of the little details and paper-work, because all I had to do, was do what assignments I was given! But more importantly, I also learned that I'm not doing such a bad job. It was a weird way to realize it, but between Elder Porter's encouragement, and the memories of being a trainee with Elder Kelly, and thinking of what a good job he was doing, made me think: Elder Kelly was probably stressing, a lot like I am right now, when he first got me. Yet, now I can see myself in his shoes. And just as I believed he was a good missionary; maybe, just maybe, I'm a good missionary too. That probably didn't make any sense, but it made sense in my head. :) 

Keep giving me encouragement everyone, I need it! :) Also, don't forget your other missionaries, especially the ones that are normal, and actually get home sick. Thanks for thy love!

Con amor,

Elder Grant

First week with Elder Cramer (July 22, 2013)

Querida Familia,

So, I found out that my new companion, Elder Cramer, had been out in the field for about 9 days when he got transferred to me. He was a little more prepared for the field than I was when I first came out, in most ways, even though he's only been a missionary for about a month (I was a missionary for two months before I even came to Washington). He is from a small town in North Carolina, and his house is about an hour from Raleigh, the capital there. He used to be a wrestler back home, and tried to convince our superintendant here to let him wrestle on P-day in the school (he was joking. Mostly). He was in Kennewick, living in the Mission Home for about 8 days before he came up here to Oroville. I guess there was some kind of mix-up on his date to come to the MTC because of the mission changes, and so he came to the field about 2 weeks into the transfer. He is an english elder, but wants to learn how to bear his testimony in spanish, so he can participate more in those lessons. The majority of the work up here is english though, so it's not too big of a problem. I do miss speaking more spanish though. 

We met a few interesting people his first week. One guy told us that he fought in Vietnam and had over 600 "kills". That raised an eye-brow. Another man from another religion told us he was converted as he tried to assault someone. And then there was the dog that bit Elder Cramer on his 3rd or so day. Out for only a month, and he's already got a lot of good stories! :)

To tell you about the area: So, it's been a pretty crazy week. We found out that the reason Sofia, one of our main investigators didn't go to church last week, is because Walmart called her into work. I now have a personal issue with Walmart, but that's beside the point. She unfortunately couldn't make it yesterday either, for the same reason, but does want to come. But for now, we will have to wait until her schedule allows her to do so. We didn't have the chance to teach Kim this week, because he's on a fishing trip, but he told us he will be in town by Wednesday, for our Ward Party, and he's definitely planning on coming to that. We won't be able to introduce him to everyone there because we won't get home from Wenatchee for three hours after the party starts, but we arranged a really great member, Brother Quick to show him around. We also taught Sinforiano yesterday with Brother Quick, and were able to teach the Plan of Salvation to him. He seemed... interested. But not like his mind was blown like I kind of hoped. It was kind of difficult, since I was teaching alone in spanish, but I think he and his daughter, Abril, liked the lesson. We told them that they can't know for sure if they will have an eternal family one day or not, unless they read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. We're praying that his work in the vineyard won't wear him out too much that he won't have the time to.

I had been a little discouraged from tracting recently, partly because I felt bad that with Elder Heward, we hardly taught any lessons from tracting while we were together. So I had been somewhat avoiding that form of finding, but felt myself at a loss of how to find investigators yesterday, during an hour where our appointment cancelled, and our back-ups failed. So, I told Elder Cramer, that we were going to do some faith-tracting. He asked me what made it different, and I said that we are going to have an extra heaping of faith when we went out to find, that the Lord would bring us to someone that was prepared. He seemed down with that. So when we went out, of course the first few houses were unsuccessful (they usually are), and we actually went down a little alley way on the edge of town, where I hadn't been very often. And lo, and behold, on the other side of this alley-way is a family in their back-yard, of a mom and her 5 kids! We talked to her, and she speaks spanish and english (so it was good for me and Elder Cramer) and she said that she felt estranged with all of the religions, and that she just wanted to know which of all the churches is true!!! So we shared the Restoration, that this was the one true church, and gave them a Book of Mormon, and invited them to come to church! She said she didn't want all of her family to go at first, but  that she would come next Sunday and check it out. As we rode away, Elder Cramer told me "I've got a good feeling about them Elder". I smiled and said, "So do I!" I have faith in tracting again. But something to note is that I had to have faith first, before the evidence would come forth.

Something I wanted to say is that you can pretty much ignore everything I said last time about how to be a member missionary. INSTEAD you can read a book that's called something like "The Power of an Everyday Missionary" by Clayton Christensen. I guess the missionaries from the office gave a training on it to the Ward Mission Leaders, including ours, Brother Timm, and told them to have their missionaries read it when they could. I think it is the best missionary book I've read, that isn't written by Prophets! Please please PLEASE read that book, if you have any desire to be a member missionary. It is only about 150 pages, I've heard it is pretty cheap in paper back, and will teach you the 'how' of inviting people to hear the happiness that comes from the Gospel. That's my new invitation to you all. Just like my investigators, I'm inviting you to read a book, and act on it. :)

No pictures again, sorry. :( But I did get my new GPS from my family, and I plan on hunting down all of the "hill-people" hiding in the outskirts of Oroville! They can't hide from me now!

Hope none of you think I'm too weird, and I hope you all have a good week. Love you all!

Elder Grant

Mid-transfer transfers (July 15, 2013)

Dear mis amigos queridos y amada familia,

So, surprise! We are having a transfer in the middle of this 8 week transfer. And unfortunately I am losing my visa-waiting step-son, Elder Heward. :( He will be going to Pasco, which is one of the tri-cities. At least he will be close to the airport though, for when his visa to Brazil comes! His twin brother, who is also going to Brazil, just got his visa, so this Elder Heward should be following behind him soon. I will be receiving an Elder Cramer tomorrow up here in Oroville. I hope I spelled his name right, because they didn't give me much information about him. They told me his name over the phone, and I assume he's from the Kennewick mission, because I've never heard of him. Hopefully he speaks spanish. 

Here in Oroville, we were SO close to having an investigator at church. Twice. And a half. One person, Sofia, told us something like five times that she would be able to make it. We were a little persistent at reminding her. And she wasn't able to come. We're not sure of the reason yet, so we're going to pass by either today or tomorrow, depending on our schedule, and if it feels right. We also had a man named Kim, who has been praying, and reading the Book of Mormon a lot. He is almost finished with 1st Nephi I believe, and we took him on a Church Tour this last Saturday. He said before we could even ask, that he was willing to get baptized in the future, but he did want to take his time, and didn't want to make rash decisions, which we understood. He said that while he couldn't come to church yesterday (there's a new Catholic Priest in town, and he wanted to show respect) that he wants to attend in the future, and that he is also planning on going to our Ward Party on the 24th of July! He's doing great. There's also Steven. He's a ten year old boy, who we aren't continually teaching. We do visit him every once in a while though, and he wants to find an answer to whether the Book of Mormon is true or not, but he's been taught most of the lessons, and hasn't truly been progressing. He said he would go to church last Sunday, but he slept through his alarm, and this Sunday he had to also go to the Catholic Church. We hope that as he keeps the commandments, he will "know of the doctrine, whether it be of God" or not. But until he does that, we'll just continue to visit him infrequently.

I thought I should tell you all about some tips to invite others to hear the Gospel, that I told someone else. Also, you should ask your local missionaries for help and practice as well. Don't be afraid. Most of them don't bite.

If you are thinking of people you have already tried to invite, just kind of slip in stuff about the Gospel (aka about your life :) into your conversations once in a while. Let them ask more questions about your religion. If they don't ask questions, either they're probably not interested, or they are too shy to ask. It depends on the situation, and you have to use a bit of discernment on whether they are disinterested, or reserved. Either way, have faith, make it natural, love the person, and don't be afraid. :) That whole, slipping in stuff about your life works with people you haven't invited yet too. 

If it's someone you are acquaintances with, here's the hard part. Get to know them first. Talk about something other than religion first, unless they happen to be doing something related to religion. Just use things they're doing as a point to start the conversation. Or maybe something they're wearing, something on their desk (families are GREAT ways to start conversations. Usually.), or something on their bag. The hard part is just practicing being more social. That's what's hard for me anyway. Learning how to go up to a person you barely, or don't know, and making them into a friend within ten minutes or less. But it's a VERY valuable skill, and one we should all improve. If there's any more questions, don't be afraid to ask. :)

I was reading a scripture in 1 Nephi 14 about how while Nephi wants to be the best man he can, he still feels like a wretched man. It was a strange moment that passed through my mind. I felt comforted that even Nephi feels kind of like that! That even a great prophet is human still makes mistakes sometimes too. And then he went on to recommit himself to not focus on the negative, but have a faith in Christ, rely on the Lord in place of man, and just try and do better. I've come to the realization (again) that I'm not perfect! That God understands that, and still loves me anyway. That He is still with me, even though I'm weak, and not the greatest Saint that's ever lived. Like Nephi though, I'm going commit again to try and do better, rely on the arm of my Redeemer, and overcome the temptations that so easily beset me. And I'm going to make some goals to help me be able to do that. :) 

The first picture is of Elder Heward that I just took, and the other is a pretty picture of the Osoyoos lake I took, right after I got kicked out of a resort of summer homes for rich people. Good times. 

I love you all, and I'm so thankful for all of your support! I'll keep working hard for all of you, and the people here in the far north! Have a good week! Con amor,

Elder Grant

P.S. My new mission address for letters/packages is 

8202 W Quinault Ave Ste D

Kennewick, WA, 99336

My new mission (July 9, 2013)

So, I met President and Sister Ware on wednesday. He is very soft-spoken and kind. It's quite a difference from President Mullen, where he was a very excited man, but they've both been called of God, and you can see it on their faces. We can now have meals on any day in the Kennewick Mission, but that probably won't make too much of a difference up here in Oroville, since the people are so sparce. But we'll see what happens. Some members do seem relieved that they can invite us over any day now. I'm just afraid I'm going to gain weight. 

There will be other changes, so we've heard, but they're not implementing too many right now. In fact, hardly any at all. They're going to announce more things on saturday when we go to Ephrata again, but last I checked they were still trying to take the best parts of both missions in the new policies. Elder Bennet, my zone leader for 3 transfers in the Othello Zone (down in Mattawa) is one of the AP's in Kennewick, so we should be treated kindly up in the northern part of the state haha. I found out some of the new spanish areas I will be able to go to in the future (possibly) are Pasco, which is part of the Tri-Cities, Yakima, and parts of Oregon. I can't wait to get to know new areas and new people!!!!

In other news, because my white shirts are becoming thing from over-use, I now have a tan line from my hands up half-way up the upper part of my arm. It almost reaches my shoulder. The line is where my garments are. x) It is the only tan part of my body! Anything else important going on here...? I can't think of anything. I'll wait until next week if there is. :)

Okay, about the area. We struggled on Sunday when the Luna family and Kyndra and Mariya, and Roscoe didn't come to church. They are all less active members that we have been working with, and they all said they would be there. They ended up having pretty decent reasons for not going, but it's still frustrating haha! We also had six appointments set up yesterday, and two of them came through, while we also taught two other people that weren't even on our plans. That kind of thing seems to happen a lot in missionary work. We asked Sinforiano to be baptized, and while he understands why he needs to be, he still feels very unsure about it all, and just says "I don't know!" He does say that he feels good, and a certain peace though when we are here and when he reads the Book of Mormon. Now we just need to get him to church! 

Elder Heward is learning so much! I probably say that in every email, but it's true! He always asks me questions about doctrine, and I surprise myself by knowing the answers most of the time. You'd be surprised how much you can learn in six months of heavy scripture study. I love that he wants to know more, and while he still gets tired, or discouraged, or doesn't do everything perfectly, he is so open to learn from his mistakes and improve himself. It's actually pretty impressive, because he understands more spanish than I did at 3 1/2 months, and he doesn't even speak the language! He's going to be a great missionary and a great asset to the people in Brazil. :)

I think that's all I've got this week. No new pictures.... I'll work on that. I hope you all do missionary work this week! Lots of love,

Elder Grant

July 1: The Kennewick Mission!

Dear family and friends,

I'm so excited! I'm now part of the Kennewick Mission!!! I feel like so much is changing, and it's all a little too big for me, but it makes the missionary life fun. :) I have two district mates from the MTC in the Bakersfield Mission now, Ben is in the Queretaro Mission, and I am in the Kennewick Mission with every missionary I know from my MTC district. Our President is President Ware, and he's vice President of Deseret Book or something. We'll be meeting him on this wednesday. So, another 2.5 hour car ride. But that's what happens when you are in Oroville. On another note, while Kennewick is closer to most spanish areas in the mission than spokane was, for oroville it is now a five hour car ride down to the mission home instead of three hours to spokane. They're not as happy about the change up here but... Well, at least I am! :D

I'm going to note, that I'm copying and pasting parts of another letter to this one, so there will be information that the majority of you already know. Sorry about that! It's faster! 

So to explain a little bit about Oroville. I officially found out from a government agent the other day, that it has about 1500 people. He said it was a big growth from before when it had about 1200 people. :) We cover 6 other towns named Ellisforde, Tenasket, Moulson, Chesaw, and Loomis. We've got plans to visit Loomis for the first time on saturday, and I've only been in Oroville, Ellisforde, and Tenasket, other than that.  We don't have any on-dates right now, and while we didn't have investigators at church, we've got a few people that say they will once the cherry season ends, we're looking hard for new people to teach, and we did have a number of less active members at church. Kyndra, Kayla, and Mariya are a few less-active/recent converts that we've been making a lot of progress with, helping them overcome their major problems, and getting back to church. In the seven (or is it eight?) weeks I've been here, we finally got Kayla to come to church for the first time in months! The Elder who baptized her will be pleased to hear that (He's in Moses Lake). Also we have got the Luna family, another less active family, reading the BoM daily, and praying together as a family each day, and we have plans to challenge them to come to church this coming sunday, tomorrow, so pray that they'll be able to do that!

I am step-training Elder Heward, who has been in the field about 6 weeks now, and is waiting for his visa to go to Brazil. He's anxious to speak his mission language, but in the mean time he's been humbly learning so much here in Oroville. I'm so proud of how much he's been growing, in such a short time, and how he's borne his wait patiently! I recently taught him how to say a baptismal invitation in spanish, and in the middle of one of our lessons in spanish, he asked me if he could ask our investigator a question. I curiously told him to go ahead, and he invited this man to be baptized at a very random point in the lesson, but Guadalupe said yes! He is busy with the cherries, and wants to be sure that the book of Mormon is true, but because of Elder Heward acting on the spirit, we now know that Guadalupe truly does have a desire to follow God's will in his will, during a lesson that I had been wondering in the back of my mind if we would have to drop him soon. He's a great missionary. :)

I read a talk this morning, the subject being that we should have faith, not fear. It talked about how on a canoe trip, while you generally enjoy the calm portions with near still waters, your favorite parts of the journey is when the rapids come. Although it's more difficult, there is a sense of exhilaration, and you feel accomplished when you've conquered them. This is how it should be in life as well. While we do have rapids, and it may seem that we are in danger at times, we must remember that 1. God will make sure everything turns out best, according to His plan! and 2. That there will always be challenges in our lives, but if we can learn to enjoy them, instead of dread them, we will be able to achieve and grow more each day. I have a new personal goal because of that talk! And a new quote in my book. :)

There's Jig again. I met her in Moses Lake during my day there. She's the fattest, walking dog I've met in my life. And another couple pictures of our beautiful area. 

June 24: 1st week of Step-training

Queridos amigos y famila amada,

It's been a pretty crazy week, with transfers, going to Spokane for the last time (ever), having the mission conference, district meeting, the big world broadcast, etc... But we still had a pretty good week! Our Bishop managed to plan an interview for one of our investigators right after sacrament meeting, so she went and we weren't even planning on it! That was a nice surprise. We were hoping for quite a few more lessons on sunday, but we managed to plan out seemingly our entire next week, and so we should be pretty busy in the next few days. Well, until saturday. We haven't really planned that far ahead yet! But I'm excited. Elder Heward said he didn't mind having lots of appointments too. :)  

Elder Heward is a good missionary, I had been praying that if I ever trained, all I wanted was that he would be humble. He's open to learn, asked more questions than I did as a missionary-in-training, and he's excited to Brazil. He recognizes that while he was called to go portuguese speaking in another country, he can learn a lot here in the Spokane/Kennewick Mission, and he feels learning how to teach in the english language has really helped him. I'm still getting to know him, but while he's not perfect, he's doing his best to become a good missionary, which is all we all ask. I'm pretty proud of him. :)  

I never realized until this past week, how blessed I've been to learn how to teach in two languages. While many people learn how to speak another language, I remember how hard it was for me to teach in english for the first time. It's not quite as easy as you would think, to think of teaching in spanish, and then translating it to english. As a missionary speaking spanish in the United States, and still teaching the english speakers in our area, I'm going to become bilingual on my mission, and I'm going to be able to have the teaching skills in my own language when I go home. And I won't have quite as much trouble speaking english when I go home. Even if while I'm here, I do sometimes say a spanish word to english speakers here. (e.g. I said something to Elder Heward in spanish to see if he'd understand, and Ryan, and investigator, said "what?" I responded unconsciously saying "Oh, disculpa estaba hablando en espanol". He then said, "wait you said habla-what?" I was confused, and Elder Heward told me I was still speaking spanish. I felt pretty embarrassed. :) )  Well, another week passes by. One more week in the Spokane Mission. And an adventure starts in the new Kennwick Mission!

 

Thanks for the love everyone. It helps me have the strength to keep searching for all those children of God, ready to accept the Gospel. :) Hope you've seen that broadcast from yesterday, and you're all going to become better member missionaries! Con amor,

Elder Grant

For pictures I've got a picture of me and Elder Orellana in front of the car, and my last look at Spokane.

A very new transfer (June 17, 2013)

Dear family and friends,

I'm very, very nervous haha. I've got some big news, at least for me. So, I really really thought (and kind of hoped) that Elder Orellana and I would just stay here together, even though I was praying he would get his wish and stay in the Spokane mission. I shouldn't have underestimated the power of his and my prayers though! So, Elder Orellana is going to an area that neither he, nor I have heard of (it's close to Pullman WA and Moscow ID) and will most likely only be speaking english for the rest of his mission. Meanwhile I will be staying here with an Elder Huewd. Elder Huewd has been out for about 4 weeks (He was given to a missionary who's companion received his visa for Peru in the middle of the transfer), and so I will be second-training him, or in the mission lingo, I will be his step-dad. And elder Huewd is a visa waiter also. For Brazil. He is learning portuguese. So, I will be Senior Companion, Training, and a solo spanish missionary. I should have seen it coming. I felt an unnatural amount of peace being given to me by the Spirit, just before the calls. And I still feel it now. So I'm not freaking out. Too much. It will be a little tough though. It will all help me grow. I understand enough spanish, thanks to Mattawa. :)

On to the area of Oroville. It always turns my head around how you'll have five appointments in one day, and end up having 4 of those cancelled, and see other people instead. I really do feel like I'm following the fog of revelation sometimes, hehe. But, I just keep walking forward. And trust in God. We contacted one family that has been less active I believe almost since they were baptized. :\ I'd never talked to them, but when we finally found them, they let us in right away, and some of the girls were shy, but they really seemed to like having us there. Early in the week we tried contacting a potential, and when she answered she just talked about this less active family to us, and all the problems they're having. So from what the potential lady said, and the mom of the family said, they need a lot of help. And that's what us missionaries are here for! So I'm pretty excited to start getting them back to church and reading the scriptures. Even if they do live about 20 miles away from Oroville hehe. 

I have to admit, I have absolutely loved having Elder Orellana as a companion. I think I had the least arguments with him of my companions, which are admittedly sometimes good for your relationship, but I've gotten to know Elder Orellana without too much fire. :) I'm going to miss speaking spanglish with him, and having so much fun with him here in Oroville. And I think it's super sad that it might be a very, very long time before I see him again, with him being in another mission, and then returning to Guatemala. But I'll see him again. Eventually. :) He's going to help many missionaries and investigators come close to Christ.

I thought I should wish my Dad, Happy Father's day! :) I love you so much, and appreciate that you helped me make it here so I could serve the Lord, and become a man out here in the middle of nowhere. You really are great. :) Keep up the good work. Much love,

Elder Grant

the scenery here ... And a squirrel. 

 and there is also a picture of my district this transfer.

I really hope I got everyone down, that I want to send this email too.

Mis amigos y familia amada,

I just had a really hard time for a half hour trying to make a group. Between accidentally deleting all my contacts, and trying to help my companion get the internet, this past half-hour was harder than it should've been. Hopefully I'm not forgetting to send this to anyone. And I'm not sending it to anyone I didn't mean to! I can't believe another transfer is almost over, but that's the mission I suppose. And It's less than 20 days now til I'm serving in another mission! I'm so clueless as to how it will change everything exactly. I won't be going to Spokane anymore, but we'll see what happens. I did think I should apologize for appearing mad last week for lack of mail x) I wasn't truly mad, I was mostly just teasing. Mostly. I still love to hear from everyone though. :)

So, we had a decent amount of success in some parts of the work, and less in other parts. For example, we thought we were about to get a new investigator, named Liz, who is an older woman that really likes to talk to the missionaries. But, after teaching the majority of the Plan of Salvation, we learned that Liz was baptized at the age of 16, and hasn't been active for 66 years! So, we're going to work on getting her back to church. We wanted to learn more, but we had an appointment, and promised her we would come back, probably tuesday. We're still trying to get some investigators on-date for baptism, and while we don't have any today, there's a man named Kim that's a really cool guy, and knows the bishop, who we're going to try and ask tonight. We're praying he'll say yes! :) We were looking at our investigators last thursday for planning, and realized most of our investigators had been taught either one or two lessons, so we've been dropping a lot of non-progressing people, and finding some of those more ready for the Gospel. It's always hard deciding that you're not going to teach someone anymore. :\ But sometimes you just need to follow the Spirit, and give some people some time off. And trust God that He will help them get back to Him one day!

Elder Orellana decided to remodel our basement today, and I think I'm having more fun than he is doing it, but he agrees that it's necessary. For some reason I really just like changing things up, which I think is also why Elder Orellana wouldn't mind staying in the Spokane Mission, and I'm excited to start what seems like a whole new world in the Kennewick Mission. Overall though, I've noticed that I just enjoy being with Elder Orellana a lot. :) He's a really fun guy, and I'm super glad that I have him for a companion!

I've noticed how much your thoughts change your actions in your life, including on the mission of course. I was studying virtue as a Christ-like attribute, and it was saying that it's something like the thoughts that you have, when you're alone, whether they're kind, or mean. I try not to think bad of people, but I recognize I'm human, and admit I sometimes get irritated with people (Just come to church!!!). I don't generally let it get to me too much, but I've come to realize that your inner thoughts often show on the outside, with time, a lot more often than you realize. So, while I've been able to say, "I'm happy" for a long time, I'm going to start TRYING to think more happy thoughts, not quite forcing myself to, but trying to achieve a more happy appearance, for others and myself. Because if I think happy things, my face will be able to show it, and others will want to be happy too. :)

I'll let you all know what's happening next transfer next week. Til then, Sinceramente,

Elder Grant

The first picture is a tribute to a few people. The bear was given to me by Brett and Ashley, who I met in Logan during my short time there. :)  The scarf thing is actually a bracelet I got from Brianna, and the seat/orange bracelet is from Rachael Lynes. Every place I've been (all of three houses) that's been on my desk each day.

 This picture is of a strawberry I ate, about the size of my thumbnail. It was amazing! 

Wow! I just realized I'm 4 weeks into another transfer.

Dear Loved ones. That didn't write me this week.

Time just passes faster and faster. I feel so old. Only three more months and I'm 20 years old... I won't be a teenager anymore, what the heck??? At least people still think I look super young. So when I'm 40, I'll look 30. :) I keep telling myself that anyway. It might not help if I lose my hair.

Another week passes, with lots of ups and downs, as usual. Noone at church, but Don DeVon, one of our investigators has his phobia of crowds and lots of people, so we set a date to have him come to church, and have been preparing him for that. This coming thursday, we will have a church tour without a member (we couldn't get him to commit to it with a member) and then the next lesson we will have, we'll bring a fellowshipper. After that it will be his deadline. We'll see how it all works out. We also have an upcoming lesson with Candace, and have a woman from the ward that will meet at the shop for that lesson on wednesday. Steven, a boy about 10 or 11 I think seems to have been brainwashed by someone. I hate when that happens. He had been previously close to accepting another baptismal date (he had one in the past), but in the lesson we just had, his book of mormon was put away somewhere, and he claimed he didn't know where it was, he kept trying to tell us he's Catholic, and he didn't want to pray for some reason. And he told us the only reason he lets us in is to be polite. Oh, the life of a missionary. But there's a lot of investigators we're finding with some potential, so we're working on finding the elect. :)

As Elder Orellana and I work together to figure out how we can help the area better, we sort through differences and find out how we sync best. We've decided to start using bikes more so that we can save on miles and be able to visit far away people more often, and also so we can work out our leg muscles. :) Plus, it's easier to stop in the middle of the street to talk to someone on a bike, than in a car. I can't even imagine just stopping the car, getting out, and trying to hand someone on the street a pamphlet! 

Have you ever had that moment where you were truly, honestly planning on sharing your testimony, and then someone goes up and uses the last twenty minutes of testimony meeting? I have. It might have been yesterday, I don't know. I'll have other chances to share my testimony. :) Of course, I do it every day in lessons. It is a bit different on the pulpit though. More scary than anything. At least we have a small ward here. Isn't that ironic? We're trying to get more people to church, yet the more people are at church, the more afraid I am to give a talk!

I probably had quite a few miracles this week, and just forgot them. I feel like I'm having a blonde moment right now. I'll work on writing them down at the end of the night from now on, instead of waiting til these letters. :) 

I also thought I should say, my Grandma, Will Crumpacker, Rachael, and Brianna did write me this week. Thank you!:)
  

Start spoiling me again everyone! I miss hearing from all of you! Con amor,

Elder Grant

P.S. I thought I'd leave a scripture for you all. It's Alma 60:6. Love you all! <3

a peacock 

Elder Orellana

Mary, a recent convert in Mattawa (Elder Kelly baptized her)

June 3, 2013: Wow! I just realized I'm 4 weeks into another transfer.

Dear Loved ones. That didn't write me this week.

Time just passes faster and faster. I feel so old. Only three more months and I'm 20 years old... I won't be a teenager anymore, what the heck??? At least people still think I look super young. So when I'm 40, I'll look 30. :) I keep telling myself that anyway. It might not help if I lose my hair.

Another week passes, with lots of ups and downs, as usual. Noone at church, but Don DeVon, one of our investigators has his phobia of crowds and lots of people, so we set a date to have him come to church, and have been preparing him for that. This coming thursday, we will have a church tour without a member (we couldn't get him to commit to it with a member) and then the next lesson we will have, we'll bring a fellowshipper. After that it will be his deadline. We'll see how it all works out. We also have an upcoming lesson with Candace, and have a woman from the ward that will meet at the shop for that lesson on wednesday. Steven, a boy about 10 or 11 I think seems to have been brainwashed by someone. I hate when that happens. He had been previously close to accepting another baptismal date (he had one in the past), but in the lesson we just had, his book of mormon was put away somewhere, and he claimed he didn't know where it was, he kept trying to tell us he's Catholic, and he didn't want to pray for some reason. And he told us the only reason he lets us in is to be polite. Oh, the life of a missionary. But there's a lot of investigators we're finding with some potential, so we're working on finding the elect. :)

As Elder Orellana and I work together to figure out how we can help the area better, we sort through differences and find out how we sync best. We've decided to start using bikes more so that we can save on miles and be able to visit far away people more often, and also so we can work out our leg muscles. :) Plus, it's easier to stop in the middle of the street to talk to someone on a bike, than in a car. I can't even imagine just stopping the car, getting out, and trying to hand someone on the street a pamphlet! 

Have you ever had that moment where you were truly, honestly planning on sharing your testimony, and then someone goes up and uses the last twenty minutes of testimony meeting? I have. It might have been yesterday, I don't know. I'll have other chances to share my testimony. :) Of course, I do it every day in lessons. It is a bit different on the pulpit though. More scary than anything. At least we have a small ward here. Isn't that ironic? We're trying to get more people to church, yet the more people are at church, the more afraid I am to give a talk!

I probably had quite a few miracles this week, and just forgot them. I feel like I'm having a blonde moment right now. I'll work on writing them down at the end of the night from now on, instead of waiting til these letters. :) 

Start spoiling me again everyone! I miss hearing from all of you! Con amor,

Elder Grant

P.S. I thought I'd leave a scripture for you all. It's Alma 60:6. Love you all! <3

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.