2 More!

Only 2 more weeks!  I'm only writing a little and will write more tomorrow.  We had to come to the Apple store to email cuz no where else had open computers....   But it’s been a crazy week and some hard times especially knowing that a lot of my friends are home today.  But  that’s just what a mission is about.

Hermana Grove

Rough Week

So this week has just been rough honestly.  We were still off with sleep because of the ER trip so we had to take a lot of sleeping time.  And then Tuesday night I got food poisoning - I learned that no matter how lazy and hungry you are week old pizza from the fridge is not a good idea.....    It was even weirder to because the Elders got sick as well so our whole ward missionaries were just out of commission.  Also my companion is not getting any better at all....

But the other thing that happened was yesterday.  We got to share the message of the Restoration with some active members and during the first vision I realized just how much I’m going to miss all this (yes there were tears - I’m becoming a cry baby again).  I have loved my mission even when there are hard times and sickness and hard companions.  But the reason I came out was because of how much I had been given as a result of this gospel and I still love getting to share that with others.   

Hermana Grove

Biking Rocks!

Well biking does rock, until it lands your companion in the emergency room.....   Ok well it wasn’t really the biking but it did make her worse.   So yep that’s what happened this week haha.     

We biked a lot on Saturday and it seemed to make my companion feel worse (she has been sick for like the past month)  and so we called the Mission President's wife Saturday night and her and President came right on over to give my companion a blessing and then we all decided that it was best we take her to the ER right then and so we did that at 10 at night. Then after much testing to find out that there was nothing they could find wrong....  got out at 3 AM!   So we got to go and spend the night in the mission home.  But the next morning was church and so I got about 6 hours of sleep (which really isn’t that bad unless you’re a missionary who just biked the day before) and since my companion had been drugged at the hospital she got to sleep all day.  So to go to church and for the rest of the day my companion was one of the Senior Sisters that works in the office here. It was definitely a crazy weekend!  But we still got a lot done and had a great time!

Gotta love missionary work!

Other thing that happened on Sunday was so crazy.  We got asked to come into Young Women’s and talk about baptism (or so I thought)  but what it ended up being was talking about our most recent convert's baptism since she is in Young Women's. So first they started with a great mormon message to which I got a little choked up, but I don’t cry so I was fine. Then they asked our recent convert to talk about her baptism to which I got a little teary eyed, but again I don’t cry. But the kicker came when the teacher asked me to tell about our recent convert's baptism and thus started the water works.  It was such a great day to remember a lot because it reminded me of my own baptism and how the spirit felt there.  Also I realized that she was it.  She was my last baptism of my mission and I just love her so much!   She was so amazing this week she even came out with us for like 4 hours and helped in our lessons just like a real missionary.  I’m gonna miss this so much.  I have learned so much from all the people we work with and I don’t want it to end but it’s going to so very soon :(

Hermana Grove

Start the Countdown!

Ok so first week of the last transfer went great!   I can’t believe I’m only gonna have 5 more blog posts!   So get ready to hear miracles!  I have decided that I am gonna just work this transfer into the ground and we are off to a good start.  We taught 29 lessons which I haven’t taught that much since I was serving in New Mexico.  And we did a whole bunch of finding activities, yep that was knocking on some doors as well as going walking down a busy street to talk to people. It was such a good week.   Every once in a while I get little freakout moments where I realize I won’t be able to do this forever.  I feel like I finally got the hang of being a missionary and now it’s almost over.  So not fair haha but o well!

This week’s lesson was the importance of following the Spirit, because we felt we needed to box knock a rather rude less active member.  He came out as we were going back to our car and apologized and invited us back anytime.  Then we also followed the spirit to know to change out plans and because of that met this cute little family that we got to share the Book of Mormon with.

Hermana Grove

Let it rain!!!!!

We got monsoons this week!!!!   I was on an exchange for the first one on Thursday so here’s the pic of us totally soaked!  For anyone who doesn’t live in Tucson a monsoon is what happens over summer when it is so super hot. All of a sudden these really dark clouds come and it gets super windy and then it just pours!   It’s so amazing cuz for a little bit it’s rather cool and nice out. I love it!     And of course we go play in it.  So there was lots of puddle splashing and dancing and just plain walking around in it.

Transfer news is that I have a little baby!  She only has been out like 7 weeks and so I get to finish up her training as I die.  I’m so excited!   It was weird to watch my comp go home but I know that she was ready for that.

Hermana Grove

Another Soul Saved

So this week we had the amazing opportunity to have a baptism.  It was super special to me because the girl was 17 and none of her family are members - just like me!  It was just such a nice baptism because she had a ton of support and was just so excited to get baptized.   

The lesson I learned with the baptism was that nothing can go perfect - the day of the baptism everything was going nice and smooth, but then we had 2 issues   #1 was that the font was not plugged up so I had to get a little wet to plug it up and then #2 was that the font almost overflowed - we got a little excited to take pictures and forgot to turn off the font. O well, it just shows that we are human doing the work of the Lord

Also during the week we did bike.  We were so excited and happy before but then after we were dead and so tired (I think part of the issue was that we had to go super fast for one part because there was no bike lane and people were getting mad at us - which stressed me out A LOT!)   But we survived and now have a plan of how to take more back roads to avoid angry cars.

We also got the kinda sad news that one of the girls in our ward who has her mission call has decided to get married instead.  It really broke our hearts.   Mostly because I know how much my mission has meant to me and I would never trade it for anything.  I am so incredibly grateful for all the things I have learned and all the ways I have grown.  I just couldn’t imagine choosing a boy over this.  It may be right for her but for me a mission is way better!

Other excitement came Saturday night around 10:00 when we had an earthquake!  I know an earthquake in Arizona!   Weird.  It was about a 5.0 in Duncan which is the AZ NM  border and so when we heard where it was from we got a bit scared since we both served out there but everyone was ok out there.   Also we were just fine out here - just a little shaken up in more than one way.

Hermana Grove

Baptism

Before biking

After Biking...

So This is Tucson

So this week was HOT!   Which yep, is Tucson.   But we had a ton of fun getting to see people.   We even got to climb on top of our Bishop's roof to see the sunset.    We had a lot of success getting to see people and help them feel loved.

It was super sad though to have our zone conference with President Killpack since it was his goodbye time.  Here are all the things he learned in his mission that he wanted us all to know:

LESSONS I’VE LEARNED AS A MISSION PRESIDENT

- Your Purpose is to bring souls unto Christ.

- Investigators, LA, RC, active members, companions, fellow missionaries = ALL

- You should always carry a Book of Mormon - It is your sickle.

- Read the Book of Mormon with those you teach

- Teach people that the way to know the truth of all things (Church, Joseph Smith, modern prophets, etc…) is to read the Book of Mormon and ask God if it is true.

- Your investigators will progress faster if they know your purpose AND their expectations

- You cannot socialize someone into the Church and have them stay.

- Build relationships with members by serving them and working with ward leadership.

- Help ward leaders with retention and activation.

- Member trust is achieved by members seeing you being a missionary, not by being their friend.

- Daily nourish your investigators and your WML.

- Have a member at every lesson possible.

- Pray often every day for yourself and for others.

- Rely on the Spirit to show you where to go, what to do, and what to say.

- If you talk with a few people – you will baptize a few people.

- If you talk with a lot of people – you will baptize a lot of people

- If you talk with everyone possible – you will baptize everyone possible

- Teach when you find. Find when you teach.

- Plan every day. Failing to plan is planning to fail.

- Focus on Key indicators. They can raise your vision.

- Help everyone you teach to make commitments that will bring about faith & repentance.

- Be obedient

- Get out of bed at 6:30. 

- The morning schedule will make or break your mission.

- Music should invite the Spirit, not memories or thoughts of home.

- If you can’t sacrifice the little things, you’ll never be asked to sacrifice the big things.

- White handbook is a book blessings, not a load of restrictions

- You have rights and privileges

- It is privilege to:

Have and use a cell phone

Drive an automobile

Play sports on P-day

Have computer usage – including email

- You will answer to the Lord one day about how you used His financial resources

- It is a right to:

expect your companion to be obedient

expect your companion to keep the apartment clean

Have members expect you are a missionary who knows and understands their purpose

-  Your manners and behavior around others are an indication of the missionary and person you are.

-  The things you say about other people and missionaries are a reflection of your upbringing, your maturity and your testimony of the Savior.

-  Lock your heart. It may save your soul.

-  Your success as a missionary is measured by your commitment to be a missionary

-  Your commitment to be a missionary is measured by your work ethic and your obedience and not by the relative success of your area.

-  The attitude of work hard / play hard is false doctrine for a missionary. It should be work hard, play within the guidelines. 

-  A mission should not just change your behavior, it should change your nature.

-  You shouldn’t just go through your mission, your mission should go through you.

-  You WILL become what you want to be, by consistently being what you want to become.

We will all miss President Killpack so much  but I know President Passy will do great things with our mission!

Hermana Grove

We climbed on top of our Bishop's roof with his daughter to see the awesome sunset

All us sisters with our little remembrance squares for the Killpacks

Our Zone at zone conference this past week