January 29th, 2013

So. It turns out that Dad wasn't too far off...

After all this time I've spent in Richmond, I'm finally being
transferred. President Hiers called last night. I'm being transferred
to Garland to be the new District Leader there. I'm kind of tripped
out actually - I already kind of know Garland haha. It's literally the
area that bordered Tremonton, so it's familiar territory for sure!
Haha... I called Sister White to tell her and I think she about died.
I'm gonna be sad to leave Richmond, and I'm kind of intimidated by my
new assignment... But at the same time I had been feeling like a
change was coming and I'm excited for what may be in store. This
transfer has been a challenge - a lot of ups and downs and I learned a
lot about myself. I'm kind of worried about what's going to happen to
Richmond... Elder Clarke is getting another companion who has had some
struggles. So I'm really hoping the area and the work here doesn't
just tank.. I guess the Lord's hand is probably in it. I'm going to be
with a companion who I've never heard of as far as I remember. So who
knows what's gonna happen? :)

Anyway - I sent a picture off already. Mareta did, in fact, get
baptized! I am completely blown away by her faith. She felt the Spirit
and she didn't fight it. We taught her about the Holy Ghost and she
tied it in to the feelings and experiences she had been having. That's
the amazing thing about the Spirit - it is so much more powerful when
someone connects the dots on their own. We taught her several times
last week to prepare her and she got interviewed Friday night. The
baptism itself was one of the most spiritual ones I can remember. A
lot of the ward showed up and a bunch of random Samoan families from
around Logan area came and supported her. She was baptized by her
uncle and I got to be the one to confirm her. The coolest part about
the program was we invited Mareta to get up and bear her testimony and
share her experiences, thoughts she had been having, and kind of share
her journey in making the decision to be baptized. Usually people
chicken out when you ask them to bear testimony, but she actually did
it! She got up and said, "I know that this is the path that God wants
me to be on. I'm willing to follow all of his commandments and I'm
excited to keep learning and becoming better." Now THAT, is real
intent; and probably the biggest miracle of all. You can tell someone
is sincere when they express a desire and follow through on
commitments. She's going to be a really strong member of the church -
a lot of people will be influenced by her strong spirit.

Richmond is pretty much blowing up right now. In the past week we
committed 5 people to be baptized, and there's definitely more on the
way. I've loved this area and I've learned so much here. I'm leaving
behind 4 people with a baptismal date and nearly 20 investigators.
Such is my life. Hopefully Garland will be a good experience for me. I
guess we're called where we're needed, huh? :) Also - one more fun
story... I got to run a snow blower for the first time on Sunday! We
came home for lunch and then had to make a record for one of our
meetings.. And in 2 hours there was over 8 inches of snow in our
driveway and the car got stuck. So we missed the rest of our meetings
because we had to dig our way out. It was pretty funny. We've been
getting quite a bit of snow lately. Which is nice - for the few weeks
before it started snowing the temperature was pretty steadily between
-10 and -20 degrees Fahrenheit. The warm spell up to 30 degrees has
been great. :)

Mom - I said who Lonnie was! He's a guy I taught several times in
Ogden. Matt had BETTER be on a mission by the time I get home! :)
Haha. So is Ryan really waiting till I get home? I don't think I was
there for Wally's baptism, but I remember the theatrics of him being
baptized in the lake. Pretty awesome! We had an investigator in Star
Valley who wanted to get baptized in the Snake River.. Wouldn't a nice
warm font be a lot better? I miss clam chowder haha. We had some super
good clam chowder about a month ago. I want Bill Frank's chowder! I
should probably write him back.. The White's came up to Richmond and
took us out to a diner there. It was awesome. :)

Dad - We got some freezing rain too the other day. No one around here
acted like they'd ever seen it before. Definitely some irregular
winter weather. Conference called a meeting, huh? Did you like, skype?
:) I don't know a whole lot about the new youth curriculum. It seems
pretty sweet - the Preach My Gospel approach is inspired. Are you
referencing Elder Bednar's talk again? That talk really hit me.
"Knowing the Gospel is true is a testimony.  Being consistently true
to the Gospel is conversion." Did you journal on your mission? I'm
still going strong. I really like being able to go back and read about
the stuff that has happened over the last 14 months. Maybe that will
help you remember some of your baptisms and experiences! :)

I love you all. Sorry if this is a shorter letter - I gotta get home
and pack.. Also! Andrew Olson sent me a (brief) letter this week! Oh
my gosh! I don't know what to do! Wish me luck in Garland!

- Elder Tyler Grant