Week 23

Hey y'all! This week has been awesome! Thanksgiving was a lot of fun. I think I gained about 5 pounds...thankfully I'm on a bike so I'll probably ride it off. It was sweet though. That morning Elder Van Cleve and I played in a Turkey Bowl with a bunch of members from the 4th ward and had a way good time. I jammed my finger REALLY bad...it swelled up a bit and still hurts when I move it too quickly or put too much pressure on it, but thankfully it was on my left hand and it's healing very nicely. We were tempted to turn it into a tackle game but I'm glad we didn't...some of the high priests were pretty big and quick.

This last week has been good but really hard. Once again we've had a problem of having appointments with investigators, but they've either not been there or had to cancel because of work, life, lame excuses, etc. It's been very frustrating. I know it'll pick up eventually but I have a problem with patience. It's definitely something I've learned a lot about in the past 6 months.

Which reminds me: I hit my 6 month mark this week! I can't believe it! It seems so weird to me, I can hardly believe it's been 6 months already. I remember getting in the field and looking at the guys who had been out 6 months and thought "By then, I'll probably have figured a lot of things out." While I have learned a lot, I still have no idea what I'm doing. I think it'll be ok, I just gotta keep moving forward. By the way, there are traditions for "Milestones of the Mission." At 6 months you burn a tie, a year, you burn a shirt, at 18 months, you burn a pair of pants, and at 24 months, you burn a full suit. It should be fun. I'll send pictures next week! =)

Ok so back on track. We did get a chance to see Trevor this week, and we're really excited for him. He's really close and hopefully we'll set a baptismal date with him this week. He might have a problem with the Word of Wisdom (he loves coffee and tea) but other than that we think he's ready. I'll let you know how it goes. We should be seeing Trevor tomorrow, so wish us luck!

Friday was probably the best part of my week. We had interviews with our mission president, President Smith, and it was really good for me. I really was just having a hard time and it was so amazing to be able to talk to someone who is so inspired and knows my situation so well. I forget sometimes that often my trials haven't been felt by me alone and that there are others who can relate. I love President Smith so much. I wish y'all could meet him. He is incredible. I've decided he's going to be a general authority when he gets released. =)

Sunday was hectic as always. I'm trying to readjust to having 3 wards again, and it's harder this time because meetings are earlier. However, it's really good and we have way sweet ward mission leaders so it'll be good to see how things work out. That night we went and saw some of the members of the wards and had really powerful lessons with them to hopefully inspire them to do their missionary work. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out, especially because we need member support so badly right now.

Anyways, that's my week in a nutshell!! I hope y'all are doing well!

Love,

Elder Grondel