Week 78

Hey there y'all!! It's been another great week here in Frisco! And guess what? I get to stay here for another 6 weeks! Transfer calls were on Saturday and neither of us got transferred! I am really excited because I have loved being with Elder Jones and I love this area. Plus, I get to stay for Christmas, which is like the best thing EVER! I am so excited for Christmas! I love the lights, music, food, everything (And being able to talk to Mom is a plus, of course).

This week went really well. Samantha came back into town and wants us over quite a bit. She loves having us over and is excited to learn more. The hardest part is she doesn't have a car and she lives with members, but they don't always come to church (they've had a rough time the past year or so) and so it's kinda difficult to get her to church, but we're working on it and it will hopefully work out.

Alex is doing alright; we taught the plan of salvation to him and he has a slightly different view of things, but he knows that the key is to read and to pray about the Book of Mormon. So he will be working on that and we will be working on getting the Spirit in there and having it touch his heart.

Sarah is about the same; she read about 5 chapters in 1 Nephi last week and she is still going. She's been busy with relatives at home so we won't be able to see her this week, but we will be able to see her soon.

Tony is doing better. We watched the Restoration DVD with him and he enjoyed it and he and Sister Harris had been reading the Book of Mormon together when we walked in, so no complaints there. He still doesn't like to pray, but we will hopefully be able to hit him with the Spirit too.

The best part was Sunday night. Alfredo and Amalia got baptized! It was really awesome (even though it was all in Spanish and I didn't understand a good portion of it) and I learned once again that the Spirit is the same. It was a lot of fun. Elder Jones got to baptize them both and they were all glowing. It was a combined baptism, too, so there were 3 other people getting baptized. It was just a Baptism fiesta! The best thing about that was there was that Antonia (a friend of Alfredo that we've been teaching for a few weeks) and her two daughters and Alfredo and Amalia's son were all there too! They really enjoyed themselves and the branch did great at fellowshipping them and helping them feel welcome. It was awesome.

Sadly, Govani has pretty much dropped off the face of the map. We haven't been able to get a hold of him and so we don't know what is going on with him. Hopefully we will be able to see him again soon.

This week weather has been crazy, too. It's the week of Christmas and it's 60 degrees outside! It was SNOWING last year! It's weird. I don't get weather in Texas. Oh well. That's what makes it fun.

Much love to everyone. I hope y'all have a wonderful Christmas and remember why we celebrate it. Remember that it is because of the Atonement of Christ that we celebrate His birth. It is because he is the Son of God, and that he came in the flesh to redeem his people.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!

Love,

Elder Grondel