HELLLLLO, 15 Feb 2012
How is everyone
at home in the coldness with no snow...... sounds like a nightmare to me- come
on snow!
This week we
did pretty well trying to get people involved and stay excited here in El Eejido
- still ha!
We had the opportunity
to hear from Elder Bednar on Monday. We had to be up and out way early in
the morning because the church which we had to go to was pretty far away. We were to be in our seats by 8:30 (sitting
reading our scriptures). The dress was
long sleeve white shirts (luckily no suits).
It almost looked to fake as we never wear long sleeves herein the mission. It turned out really good though because you
could definitely feel a different spirit about us, as we had a chance to relax,
read the scriptures and focus a little more on personal thoughts and get ready
to be taught on a spiritual level. We were
reverent. Then after about 30 minutes of
sitting there in silence in walked Elder Bednar with his wife, and of course we
all stood up. The first thing I thought was, wow he looks pretty old! but then
again all that traveling and reading and writing has to get to you some time...
haha. He got up and talked and after every sentence he had to stop so the
people could translate, which took a lot of time - but was pretty fun to hear.
He talked a lot about how we in the church don’t realize enough how the spirit
is the real teacher, from primary teachers to missionaries to Bishops, and how
we try to direct questions for a certain answer. But in reality when they have an answer and
want to share it you know that they were influenced by something other than
your teachings.
So that is what
he did for us. He asked a question and waited for people to raise their hands
and tell him what they think so the spirit could work in us and not him having
to direct the thought process. He also
told us that he never wants us to take notes on what he says but write down
what and how we feel when we listen to what he says – like we learned to do in
primary and seminary. But wow it’s kind of intimidating, maybe awestruck to be
in presence of one of the 12 ! But it was an awesome experience!
I learned this
week that it is hard to clean a greasy and oily baking pan......... haha. We were walking to the hoyo (hole) which is a
very very poor part of our area and there were two old women cleaning pans
these nasty looking pans for money. I went over and grabbed one and started
cleaning it. They gave me some steel wool and a knife and some soap and said go
for it. Wow I cannot tell you how bad my
hands hurt after doing that one pan!! Haha.
It’s rough and I don’t understand how they do that for money as a job!! I’ve found that I love doing stuff like that
now, because it is service and truth be told it gets us out of the regular routine,
but we also gain respect from other people!
We had a lesson
last night, I think it
was, and this lady was on something or had just had some of their stiff coffee
or something because she would not stop talking. The funny thing was that she
understood, responded and wanted to know more about everything that we were
talking about, and kept telling us that she wanted to visit the church because
she loves people that know what they’re talking about. hahaha .
We also have a
sad situation in the ward but one that makes you thankful for the atonement. One of our investigators that moved into our
ward recently seems like such a perfect fit, but too good to be true, ya know,
just something off - because he knows way too much doctrine to be just investigating
and he knows the whole Mormon community here, and has read every book that
pertains to the church. His Dad told us
that he had been a missionary but was excommunicated. We had no idea! He, the
son, has never wanted to, and still hasn’t told us his story – that’s okay none
of our business. But he is in the process of getting rebaptized, so he’s working
with the Bishop. It will be a great day
for him when all is taken care of.
We are planning
for two baptisms on my birthday (February 25th – just so yall
remember! Haha cards, letters, packages… yes)!!
One is the son
of one of the members that has just converted into the church. Her older son is on a mission and we are
working with him to get him baptized and active in the church! The next is a girl named Nayeli who is part of
a member family but she is too old to be baptized through regular channels, so
we have taught her and are preparing for the 25th. So I’m way excited!
I’m really
liking the mission even though it can get repetitive (I guess just like
anything you do in life). There are still moments where you realize why you’re
here and why you need to be doing what you’re doing. That makes it all better!
I love you all
and wish ya the best! Until next week! .
ELDER GRINER
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