Saturday, February 26, 2011

Week 87

Hey there y'all!! It's been another great week here in Texas! This last week we had a lot of things fall through but at the same time we have had a lot of things work out. I am loving this area so much and I am happy to be here and I know I'm going to baptize here.
Tonight we are meeting with a referral from the Melissa ward who lives in Princeton (the referral does). His name is Daniel and he seems really open to having us come over. The member who referred him, Peter, said that he is always asking him questions at work and was willing to meet with the missionaries. Peter is going to come teaching with us tonight, so we are looking forward to it and it should be a great lesson. We are hoping and will be praying that he will be baptized soon.
Tomorrow we are eating dinner with a part-member family. They are fairly active and have a 12-year-old son named Jared who hasn't been too interested in baptism before but recently may have had different feelings about that. Elder Frost went over when we were on exchanges with the zone leaders and they had a really good lesson. They just read out of 3 Nephi 11 and apparently Jared's Dad bore a really powerful testimony about baptism and how that is the first thing that Jesus teaches the people here in America. I love the Book of Mormon!! It is so simple and so plain.
This last week we had a couple of cool miracles as well. We were out knocking and between doors a lady in her car pulled up next to us and pointed to a house. "Go knock on that one. I'm a member, he's my boyfriend. He has a Book of Mormon and is interested. Don't tell him I sent you." She gave us a good luck wink and drove off. So we immediately went to his house and Albert (the boyfriend) opened the door. He said he was on his way out, but he definitely wanted to meet with us. So we got his name and number and went back the next day. He wasn't there because he had to go out of town last minute, but we called him on Saturday and we are going to call him again today to set up a time to meet with him.
Later that week (or that day...I can't remember. It all runs together now) we were knocking and we talked to a lady named Pam. She wasn't feeling good, but she said her brother was a Mormon, her sister -in-law was a Mormon, and she has an ex-sister-in-law who is a Mormon as well. She has a copy of the Book of Mormon, too! We weren't sure if she was going to want us to come back, but when we asked, she enthusiastically said yes! We got her name and her number and will be calling her this week to go see her! It was so sweet.
On Friday we were on Exchanges with the Zone Leaders (P.S. Elder Hall is one of my Zone leaders! It's so much fun!) and I was with Elder Hall. We exchanged Thursday night to be with them on Friday and so we were planning out the next day and Elder Hall asked me where to go tracting. Not really sure because I didn't know the area, I randomly pointed at a street and that's where we went (I know, I didn't think it was inspired either, but wait. It gets better). First off, the ZLs also cover a singles branch in Allen, and they have had a member of the branch presidency coming out with them a ton to try to find more people to teach in the branch. They have been praying about it and had been having a hard time. So we're knocking and we talk to a kid named Christian. When he first opened the door, I thought he was 15 at the oldest; he just didn't look that old. So we asked him how old he was and he said he was 18. We asked him if he was a senior and he said no, I'm attending Collin County Community College (quad C) in Plano. Elder Hall and I sat there for a second and then asked if we could come in and share a message about the Restoration. He let us in and the Spirit helped us to teach an awesome lesson. It was so smooth (which can be hard on exchanges) and he got it all. We invited him to be baptized when he knew it was true and he accepted. He seemed into it and he is from Peru and has only been here 6 months! It was super cool! He said the closing prayer and in it he said, "God I'm grateful that I am opening myself up to you after so many years of being closed." It was so epic! I love the Gospel so much! This whole week has helped me to build my faith in having a good attitude, working hard, and just having faith that the Lord will provide. I had no idea that Christian lived on that street. I didn't even look over the streets; I just pointed at the map! But I know that the Lord doesn't allow for coincidences. Not in the Gospel.
I love this work so much. I am loving this area and I love my missionaries that I serve. I hope and I believe every week will be as good as this one for the rest of my mission.
I love y'all and hope y'all have a great week!!
Love,
Elder Grondel
P.S. Y'all aren't going to believe this, but they are building an In-N-Out here in Allen! It should open sometime in April or May, so I will for sure be going and taking a picture in front of it!

2 comments:

By Megan for Hermana Hope said...

Hi,

My name is Jessica Hope, I met Elder Grondel while he was serving here in Frisco!! I think he and ya'll might be interested that I have been reassigned on my mission. I am now going to the Las Vegas Nevada mission, spanish speaking! Pass on the word to him!!!

Thanks!

Jessica said...

Will do!!