February?!?!

Wow!  That means that it’s been just about a whole year that I have been a missionary!   It’s crazy how fast time has gone by.    

So not to much has happened this week.    

We basically do the same thing everyday, it’s just trying to find people to teach which involves a lot of walking around but it means we are working on our tans and exercising.  I’ve even lost a bit of weight lately!  So exciting.

We apparently have now turned into moms to our elders cuz we are constantly having to find dinner for them and making them desserts.  But we love them so it’s worth it.

Well that’s really about it.  Have a good week everyone!

Hermana Grove

Back from the dead

So this title has a couple meanings.  One, my companion is no longer sick!  Two, this area was considered rather dead and is now doing way better.  And  three, I’m not feeling so sick anymore like I had been.

So this week once we finally got out of the house we had a great week!   We ended up finding 2 new people to teach as well as just having some awesome times with people we are teaching.

The most exciting thing was that last night I got a phone call from an investigator in New Mexico (she may have gotten our phone number from the sisters there)   telling me that she has chosen to get baptized on Feb 20th, which happens to be my 1 year mark!   I was just so excited to hear that she is finally ready to make the change and completely follow the example of Christ.  We were both just crying.  And I could hardly sleep last night I was just so happy for her.

The Lord is really working miracles out here!

Hermana Grove

So I finally got my companion's SD card....  this was us singing at Christmas time

All us sisters in the zone

Us being bosses with out P-day hikes

We had hot chocolate on top of the mountain

In the car - our favorite place.....

And this is what happens when you let elders take your camera for the day - them with penguino

Better late than never.....right?

So this week my companion got sick - very sick, flu we think.  So that’s why I’m emailing later in the week.  P-day was on Tuesday for transfers (we are staying together) and she got sick that day so this is our first time out of the apartment - well 2nd but first full day this week.      

So this week I had the most embarrassing thing to happen to me on the mish so far....  So we were having dinner at a members house and I had to pee (that’s important) so I used their restroom and when the toilet flushed it didn’t go down, it just kept getting fuller and fuller and started to overflow!!  So I quickly grabbed a glove and a dish that we used to wash their dogs the day before and started throwing water into the bathtub....  then got the plunger but it didn’t work, in fact it broke!   So I’m sitting there trying to get this fixed and finally give up and go out to get one of the elders, but their son was there to help and he took care of it.  But the worst part was when I came out our little 9 year old investigator (they got invited over for dinner as well) yelled "Wow, you were in there for a while"  and proceeded to go into the bathroom and tell everyone how it was stinky in there.....    I told the other missionaries and we are all just laughing over it so much.

We got to go to the temple this week which for anyone who doesn't know what the temple is check out http://mormon.org/faq/topic/temples/question/church-and-temple   It was so nice just to get to feel the spirit so strong there.  For the  trip our car got chosen to drive the 300 mile trip....   so we have like NO miles left from our allotment for the month and have been walking almost 5 miles everyday.  One day we had forgotten to bring clothes to wash that member's dogs and so we ran (in skirts yes) to the goodwill like 2 miles away to get clothes and ran back to our car.  It was just so funny.  Well except the fact that my heels started blistering and bleeding but hey that’s missionary work.

Hope everyone is doing well back home

Hermana Grove

Our neighbors and favorite elders

I'm gonna miss this kid, even if he did insult California

My step sister!

All the missionaries for our branch

Con mi companera

And our awkward district,  we called ourselves boarder patrol - I don't actually understand why...

Almost Elder Holland

So ya all our excitement here to see Elder Holland didn’t happen....  it was sad.  But we did end up getting to go up to Phoenix anyway and listen to a member of the 70.  It was a real amazing talk. A lot of the focus was just on letting the mission change you and giving your whole heart in the work.  Which is something I have really been trying to do more lately.   During the bus ride we got to watch Ephram's Rescue, amazing movie by the way.  I really loved it because in the movie the guy gives his whole heart to the Lord and does what he needs too.

Then on Sunday we had this less active family come to church and 2 of our investigators!  It was amazing.  Our mission is doing something called baptivations.  It’s where reactivations and baptisms kinda count as the same thing.  And so with this family we extended a baptivation invitation so inviting them to follow the example of Jesus Christ and partake of the Sacrament.  It was so perfect!    

Hermana Grove

Christmas

Zone hike

High on a mountain top

Happy New Year!

Wow!  Can you believe it’s 2014?!   I come home this year.....   that’s even weirder to think about.

So for New Years we had to be in a little early so we celebrated at like 9 with some sparkling apple cider.  Then went to bed and got woken up at midnight by all the fireworks and gun shots (the joys of Tucson).

So we did a lot of knocking this week and got chased by a goose.  We saw it  behind a fence and thought it wasn’t gonna be able to get out so we went to knock that house and the goose started coming toward us.    Then the gate was open so he came out to the street and followed us to the next house and the closer and closer he got the faster and faster he went, so we just kinda ran down the street away from it a bit.    

Also the same day my companion realized like and hour and a half into knocking that she didn’t have the keys, and I didn’t have the keys, so we went running back to the car and found them inside but while my companion was searching for the keys I saw this guy working on his cars so I went to talk to him and he was super cool!  He accepted a Book of Mormon and everything!  And we got a return appointment!  It was so great to find someone prepared to hear our message.  Only down side, we have no idea where he lives since we can’t find the street on the map or in my GPS, lol.  O well we will find him again somehow.

Well I hope everyone has a wonderful New Year!

Hermana Grove

Happy New Year!

High on a Mountain Top

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

So this week was Christmas!  Which meant slow work but happy missionaries getting to talk to our families!   We continued with the caroling and now all our voices are shot!   But it was so fun and so worth it!

For Christmas we started at midnight with going to Catholic midnight mass!  It was super fun and just a cool experience to not only get to go to another church and see what it was like but also to see about 30 missionaries at a Catholic mass.  People were a bit confused.  And we ended up with about 3 hours of sleep lol. Then we went to the house of one of the Elder's aunt.  Yep she lives in our area.  So we got to stay there for a while to have breakfast, skype home, play crocet (however you spell it)  and just enjoy missionary life.  We also got to go see some of our members and enjoy some Christmas time with them.

On the 24th we got to have our mission Christmas conference where we found out that on Jan 11th we are all going to be taking buses up to Phoenix to see Elder Holland!  It’s gonna be so awesome!

So other than that there wasn’t anything to exciting.  We went on another crazy hike this morning.  Pictures will be coming but right now I can’t send them from this computer so it will have to wait.

Hope everyone has a Happy and Safe New Year!

Hermana Grove

Merry Christmas!

So this week was so sweet!   I went the whole week with only 1 hour of a total nap.  It was the best.  I haven’t done that for like 3 months.

We had some crazy stuff too.  We play sports every morning with our elders at 6:00am and this week while playing glow in the dark dodgeball my companion got ran into hard - she may have a slight concussion...    and I got nailed in the face with the ball.

Then on Friday we got to help a family make tamales.  We made 22 dozen and they are so yummy!   We also have been going caroling almost every night since all of us can sing.  The elders all play the guitar too so we have a special finale.  We do of Feliz Navidad where they play the guitar and we have tambourines. It’s just so fun!   I love it here!    So on Saturday, or was it Friday, idk,  we got dropped by 2 investigators,  one by note - she went to Mexico till May!   I hate Mexico.....    and the other just gave us the “well why don't you call me.....”    But we have just been doing awesome and having fun - our numbers aren’t so hot but hey we are working and the Lord knows it and that is all that matters.

But this week is Christmas which is so awesome.  It’s so special to be a missionary at Christmas because it’s one time of the year that everyone else is celebrating Christ like we do all the time.  It’s awesome to be a servant of Christ at this time and celebrate his birth.

Hermana Grove