Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Week 89

Hey there y'all! It's been another great week here in Texas! There were a couple cool miracles this week and so here we go!
First, Jared is still doing great. He is so getting baptized.
Daniel and Genevie are doing good; they grew up Catholic and so we will have to help them overcome their fears of changing religions. But they have really good friends and we found out that another member in the branch grew up with her! So we will be seeing some good things happen here.
We had a good lesson with Erika, but they are hung up on a few things that we are working with right now to overcome.
This week the cool miracle happened on Tuesday. We went shopping on Tuesday because we had no food and we didn't get money until the 1st, and as we were heading to the checkout, a random guy walked up to us and asked, "Are y'all Mormons?" I didn't know what to expect. After being in Texas for this long, it's either a good thing or a bad thing. This time it was good. In talking to him, we found out he used to live in Kingsville, Texas, and that he was taught by missionaries there for a while. He had since moved but he wanted to "reacquaint himself with the Mormon church." So we taught him on Friday and we spent over an hour just talking to him about his beliefs and different doctrines. He seems like a really cool guy and is really willing to have us over. We are really excited for him.
The other cool story is a man named Brent. He is divorced with a 15-year-old daughter and we found him tracting. He was pretty open to having us over and we talked about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon with him. He said the Book of Mormon made sense because if people were an ocean away, God would speak to them just like he did people in the Bible. It was pretty sweet. We have an appointment with him Wednesday and it should be good.
Well, that's really it. My companion isn't feeling too good today, but nothing stops a missionary from emailing home! Except for maybe vomiting and other unpleasant bowel movements...but that's another story!
I love y'all and hope y'all have a great week!
Love,
Elder Grondel

Week 88

Hey there y'all! It's been another great week here in Texas! We have had an awesome time and are doing well here.
So last week went well with the referral. Their names are Daniel and Genevie and they have a 5-year-old and one on the way. We taught them the Restoration and they received it well. They committed to read the Book of Mormon but I don't think they understand the significance of it yet, so we are going to go over the Plan of Salvation tonight and tie everything in to the Book of Mormon and how it's really the key to a knowledge of the truth.
We had SWEET time with Jared. We were nearing the end of our lesson and HE said, "Elders, I want to set a baptismal date." Slight pause. Of course I just wanted to jump up and hug him and start crying, but instead I composed myself and said, "I believe we can help you with that." So he is getting baptized on March 19th. Super sweet. Super prepared. All the Lord. I love it when he blesses me like this, because sometimes I don't feel like I deserve it. But hey, it's all part of the Lord's plan.
Sadly none of the cool experiences I talked about last week went through, but that's OK. We are moving forward and we will hopefully see more this week. I think part of it was to build my testimony that the Lord can and will work miracles. I know that things happen for a reason; it is up to us to be faithful, diligent, and patient in order to receive the blessings the Lord has in store for us.
I love you all and I hope y'all have a great week!
Love,
Elder Grondel