What a week. To start, Monday Elder Smith and myself set a baptisimal date with Melissa and Logan Lewis for August 1st! We're really excited too!! They have had such good experiences with the Gospel and have really changed. Melissa is happier more often and Logan is just awesome. He really knows what he is doing and that this is what he wants. We're way stoked to see them baptized. Their progression has been awesome, and Kelly (Melissa's husband) has agreed to take the lessons now, and we had a great lesson with them Saturday night. He's really interested now!
We tried to see Juan, but he hurt his shoulder lifting something at work, and when we went to see him, he had dozed off because of the medicine the doctor gave him. The rest of our investigators are kinda staying where they are, and Elder Smith and I are trying to find new investigators; sadly we haven't had much success. We did tract into a guy named Shawn though, and we have another appointment with him tomorrow, so we'll see how he does and what he though of out first lesson.
I've lost another 5 pounds (woo hoo!). I just hope I'll have the motivation to keep going after Elder Smith leaves. He's been the one getting me to do it. I really enjoy it now, though, so I don't think it'll be too much of a problem.
$mitty's (Elder Smith's) birthday was on Thursday and it rocked. We went over to the Sorensen's house for dinner and they went all out. The dinner rocked and at the end Sister Sorensen made a red velvet cake from the recipe $mitty's mom uses and had sent to her...and oh mu gosh it was delicious. It was seriously the best red velvet cake I have ever had. we felt so full that night and worked out way hard the next morning to make sure we burned it off. However it was totally worth it. The best part for Elder Smith was the last part. His mom sent a video of the family singing "Happy Birthday" to him and he absolutely loved it. It was so cool and now I'm really excited to meet his family...which won't be for 2 years...dangit. It was great though, and now $mitty is the bigh 2-1 and will be heading home soon...='(
Today was way sweet. Robert Peterson, one of Elder Smith's recent converts (he was baptized in May), knows a guy who does outdoor laser tag, and he set up a day for us to go out and play. We had about 25 people there (20 were missionaries--half from our zone and half from another) and we played in an 8-and-a-half acre forest with a bunch of trails and bunkers made out of sticks/logs. It was seriously one of the coolest things I've ever done. We played 5 games, and the guns were M16 airsoft guns that had been modified with an infrared laser. It was unbelievably awesome. Sadly, our team lost most of the games, but it was still really cool. We'll be doing it next month too, so you can imagine my excitement. =D
Well I love y'all and hope you have a good week!!
Elder Grondel
Monday, July 20, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
July 13, 2009
Hey y'all!! It's been another great week in the wonderful state of Texas! It's hard to believe I've been away from home for almost 6 weeks...it's gone by really fast! I'm loving every second of it though and wouldn't want to be anywhere else.
Elder Smith continues to be amazing. I think I forgot to mention in previous letters that he is a bit of a health nut and I can't blame him. We get fed pretty much every night by members and when dinner is 1200 calories by itself...you get the picture. Thankfully we work out every morning, so it doesn't do much to us. I thought I was gonna gain weight (the average missionary in our mission gains 30 pounds), but instead I've already lost ten pounds. It's crazy! I really enjoy it though and I'm happy I'm with someone who's dedicated. Elder Smith is one of the best people I have ever met and I'm really sad he's leaving. He got his travel plans last week and he flies home August 5th. The worst part about it is that I keep thinking about home myself...which is not so good; however, I feel I've been focused and we have definitely been blessed for our efforts. We've been teaching quite a few lessons lately and found 4 new investigators this week. Sadly we've all but dropped Gabriella, Veronica, Alex, Carla, and Joanna because we haven't had a lesson with them for almost 2 weeks. We're pretty sure they've been "anti"-ed. It's been really annoying.
Melissa and Logan Lewis are doing really well, though. They both want to be baptized but are concerned about it being too soon and without the rest of the family being baptized, they don't know how it will affect them. Logan is a stud though and said to his mom the other day, "It's my body and I can do what I want. And I want to be baptized." It was way cool. The kid is only 8, but he's already a spiritual giant. We're really excited for them and hope to see them baptized soon.
We had another lesson with Juan on Friday, and he already seems a lot happier. He said he noticed that we are always happy no matter what, wheter we're sitting out in the heat (which we've had to do) or helping him change a tire, he said we just shrug it off and stay happy. This was thankfully a great teaching experience on the Holy Ghost and how it comforts those who have it with them. He's become a lot happier himself; he's still got a long way to go but with the Lord's help, we can get him there.
We met with J.J. and Hayden Kruzel again last night, and they are both doing awesome. They're pretty much ready for baptism; they just need to make it a weekend that their grandparents can be in town. J.J.'s team made it to the World Series (crazy huh!) and he had something crazy like 66 stike outs in 60 innings. The kid is a beast.
I love you all and want to hear from you!! Please write me!
God Bless,
Elder Grondel
Elder Smith continues to be amazing. I think I forgot to mention in previous letters that he is a bit of a health nut and I can't blame him. We get fed pretty much every night by members and when dinner is 1200 calories by itself...you get the picture. Thankfully we work out every morning, so it doesn't do much to us. I thought I was gonna gain weight (the average missionary in our mission gains 30 pounds), but instead I've already lost ten pounds. It's crazy! I really enjoy it though and I'm happy I'm with someone who's dedicated. Elder Smith is one of the best people I have ever met and I'm really sad he's leaving. He got his travel plans last week and he flies home August 5th. The worst part about it is that I keep thinking about home myself...which is not so good; however, I feel I've been focused and we have definitely been blessed for our efforts. We've been teaching quite a few lessons lately and found 4 new investigators this week. Sadly we've all but dropped Gabriella, Veronica, Alex, Carla, and Joanna because we haven't had a lesson with them for almost 2 weeks. We're pretty sure they've been "anti"-ed. It's been really annoying.
Melissa and Logan Lewis are doing really well, though. They both want to be baptized but are concerned about it being too soon and without the rest of the family being baptized, they don't know how it will affect them. Logan is a stud though and said to his mom the other day, "It's my body and I can do what I want. And I want to be baptized." It was way cool. The kid is only 8, but he's already a spiritual giant. We're really excited for them and hope to see them baptized soon.
We had another lesson with Juan on Friday, and he already seems a lot happier. He said he noticed that we are always happy no matter what, wheter we're sitting out in the heat (which we've had to do) or helping him change a tire, he said we just shrug it off and stay happy. This was thankfully a great teaching experience on the Holy Ghost and how it comforts those who have it with them. He's become a lot happier himself; he's still got a long way to go but with the Lord's help, we can get him there.
We met with J.J. and Hayden Kruzel again last night, and they are both doing awesome. They're pretty much ready for baptism; they just need to make it a weekend that their grandparents can be in town. J.J.'s team made it to the World Series (crazy huh!) and he had something crazy like 66 stike outs in 60 innings. The kid is a beast.
I love you all and want to hear from you!! Please write me!
God Bless,
Elder Grondel
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
July 6, 2009
Hey y'all!! This week went really well. Elder Smith and I have been blessed with people willing to learn about the Gospel. I have really enjoyed working with him so far and I'm really sad he's gonna be going home in August. He knows so much about the gospel and is an excellent teacher. I love having him as a companion and friend.
This weekend was awesome. Not only was it "Uhmerica Day", We also had a family get baptized: Delia and her two sons, Michael and Adrian. They were confirmed yesterday in church and they are so happy now to be a part of the church. Sadly, Michael is moving out to California to live with his Dad next week, so we won't get to see much more of him before he leaves.
Melissa and Logan Lewis are way stoked about the church. Logan is only 8 but he wants to be baptized so badly. Melissa is definitely feeling it too, but wants her son Branden and Her husband Kelly to join her as well, so we'll be teaching all of them (hopefully) over the next few weeks.
We haven't been able to find many new investigators lately, sadly enough. It's just hard because most people leave Little Elm to go work somewhere else, considering Little Elm is pretty small (less than 30,000 people). I love it though and I'm really happy so far.
On the more embarrassing side, Friday night, I decided it would be a great idea to spill water on myself...while at a member's home, with ice cold water. Needless to say, I was fairly embarrassed. Of course, then I get a brain freeze a few minutes later and it hurts so bad I don't even notice everyone else is laughing at me. Then the next day after the baptism, as I was sitting down to eat at the Golden Corral, my pocket got caught on the chair somehow and I ripped my pants...yeah that was annoying. As you can see, it's been hard, but it's been good ;)
I love you all and miss you too!!
Elder Jeffrey Douglas Grondel
This weekend was awesome. Not only was it "Uhmerica Day", We also had a family get baptized: Delia and her two sons, Michael and Adrian. They were confirmed yesterday in church and they are so happy now to be a part of the church. Sadly, Michael is moving out to California to live with his Dad next week, so we won't get to see much more of him before he leaves.
Melissa and Logan Lewis are way stoked about the church. Logan is only 8 but he wants to be baptized so badly. Melissa is definitely feeling it too, but wants her son Branden and Her husband Kelly to join her as well, so we'll be teaching all of them (hopefully) over the next few weeks.
We haven't been able to find many new investigators lately, sadly enough. It's just hard because most people leave Little Elm to go work somewhere else, considering Little Elm is pretty small (less than 30,000 people). I love it though and I'm really happy so far.
On the more embarrassing side, Friday night, I decided it would be a great idea to spill water on myself...while at a member's home, with ice cold water. Needless to say, I was fairly embarrassed. Of course, then I get a brain freeze a few minutes later and it hurts so bad I don't even notice everyone else is laughing at me. Then the next day after the baptism, as I was sitting down to eat at the Golden Corral, my pocket got caught on the chair somehow and I ripped my pants...yeah that was annoying. As you can see, it's been hard, but it's been good ;)
I love you all and miss you too!!
Elder Jeffrey Douglas Grondel
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