I hope.. That you got my re-sent letter to Ryan. I totally sent him one last week from the address that HE e-mailed me from! I re-forwarded it to you guys so that there can be no mistaking it this time around... I must be tired today - don't think my brain is kicking on all cylinders... :) So hey! We've got a lot of great things going for us once again. I'm really hoping that the Spirit of Christmas doesn't take its toll like it nearly did last year, when 90% of the people in our teaching pool pulled the "we'd love to meet with you after the holidays!" card... It's not looking like it's going to be that drastic. I'm wondering if I'm even going to be here for Christmas. It's killing me not to know! Especially because of all the people we're teaching. We've taught two lessons now to our Samoan friends.. And it's been the coolest experience. We're mainly teaching the grandma right now, a 76 year old lady named Apo. And, like I mentioned last week, she doesn't speak a SINGLE word of English. So we went in with our translator friend fresh off his mission in Samoa... I've never taught with a translator before. It's extremely different. Especially when one English sentence translates to a paragraph in Samoan. Plus - the biggest difference - was that teaching someone from another culture, there are certain principles that make sense to us but they just don't click or translate to another language very well. The single biggest change is that when we normally teach people, we focus a LOT on the Holy Ghost and the feelings that come from it being more than just a warm fuzzy feeling, but preparing them to receive an actual confirming witness from God. Turns out that the Holy Ghost is far too abstract to comprehend for the Samoan culture and upbringing. After talking in circles for a while and trying to teach the same principles over and over, we talked to the RM and he said that we're going to have to take a different approach, focusing on teaching very little detail and just straight testifying. So we did that. Last night we taught her again, except that the translator wasn't able to come.. So we asked her daughter to translate for us and it went really well. She told us "Give me some time to ponder. If this is what God is telling me, then this is what's right." So that was a pretty good sign. Her 18 year old granddaughter has also been sitting in on the lessons, and she's warming up to us more and more. They've also been going to church for a solid month and a half.. So the Spirit should work it's magic eventually. Oh my gosh.. My brain is like... Not even coherent right now. So this letter may be extremely sloppy. Plus I'm sitting here in the tabernacle sitting next to Elder Scoggin, who is going home in less than a month, so we're reminiscing the golden days back in Tremonton. I'm finding it hard to focus on the events of the last week. :) We've also taught Reannah a few more times.. We were hoping that she could get baptized this Saturday but it's not looking like that is going to be the case. At any rate she will be baptized before the end of the year for sure. She prayed at the end of the last lesson, and basically bore her testimony to us in the middle of her prayer. She told us the only thing she wants for Christmas is to be baptized, and she's not asking for anything else. Her cousins are still doing really well, and by that I mean Nia & Maya. Their entire family went to church again, mom included. I think there are good things happening in that home... The spirit is hard at work. And with a little luck and a lot of prayers, we'll be able to start teaching Julio and Tlaloc, their dad and brother. Their family is just so unbelievably close. There are so many people that are unbelievably close! All the ward mission leaders in both stakes are in overdrive right now - they're finally starting to understand their roles and the wards are beginning to catch the vision. One brand new ward mission leader in particular told us that they've formulated a brand new ward mission plan and have assigned auxiliary presidents to make visits to 18 non member and less active homes to report back in the next week. Another ward in Richmond has a family that we had been working with, but they were turned off because one of the people who showed up to home teach them, the less-active mother said she had seen him drunk at a bar the week before. So that blew that opportunity for us.. But we've now got the ward and auxiliary presidencies working on the 3 youth who haven't been baptized, and one of them in particular has been going to young women's activities faithfully for months and, recently, has been attending and loving church. The forces are being mobilized, so to speak. It'll suck if I have to leave.. But come what may, I know I'll be where I'm supposed to be. It's taken a lot to build up this area, but I can honestly say that if I do leave next Wednesday that I left it better than I found it. And that's what the Lord asks. And our Christmas mission conference was pretty great. It was a very long day of sitting.. Some trainings were given by some missionaries who will be going home soon. And they had a super long talent show which, while it was amusing, was definitely too long. 4 hours. Gahhh.... It was good to see everybody again though. I opened up my Christmas box JUST to get the Charlie Brown tree out, I haven't opened any presents.. I promise. :) The Christmas spirit is a real thing. We've had lots of opportunities to associate with potential investigators at Christmas parties in the last week.. On Saturday we attended 4 ward parties. THAT was a long day. But I would say the coolest experience was actually in the Cove ward - where the Bishop set us up to go on a sleigh ride with 3 non members who have been going to church faithfully for a while. We got to know them informally, and then we got to speak in their ward the next day and they attended. Stuff is happening! I can't say it enough - everyone is so close! Mom - Tell Ryan to check his e-mail, or just show him the one I re-forwarded. I don't want to be in trouble with him. Our trip down to Ogden last Thursday was retardedly foggy too! It was some of the worst fog I've driven in ... Scary to say the least. It also finally snowed here and it stuck!! 3 days ago we got a bit of snow and it's been coming in bursts ever since. Nothing like -25 though. That we will NEVER see. Does Brother Swartz still play League of Legends? :) Hahahaha.. I remember playing with him a few times and just laughing because I was playing a computer game with the Young Men's President.. I bet I could still kick his butt, and I'm a year rusty! How come you didn't go and sing in the Hallelujah Chorus? The soundtracks I've been listening to most, by the way, are Avatar, Pirates, Lord of the Rings, and Gladiator. All of which are extremely well done. I miss clam/seafood chowder super badly! Every time someone asks what we want to eat, I always say clam chowder.. And they always make something else. I'll get it eventually... No hymnbooks yet I keep forgetting Dad - The classic Sunday nap! Nothing beats it! Sundays are our longest days.. We have no time for naps however. We go to too many sacraments and correlation meetings about missionary work. Blahh.. Glad to hear that your first stake dance wasn't a flop! Not that I expected it to be.. You're quite the dancer, as I recall. I love Elder Holland's talks. I accidentally deleted the audio files you sent me before, but I listened to them all several times through and I think I got enough out of them.. :) If you wanted to send me a few Holland audio files I wouldn't hate it. I can't believe you got a pinball machine! That is SO sick! Do you have to put coins in it too? That'll be something that you can beat me at.. Since you'll never top my score on Pacifism!! The remarks on the brother of Jared were pretty sweet.. I'll do some studying into that this week if I remember! By the way - you owe it to yourself to play through Wind Waker. Goofy as it looks, it's extremely satisfying and the cel-shaded art style grows on you. I love you all! Thanks for all that you do - can't wait to see you at Christmas! - Elder Tyler Grant
Friday, January 25, 2013
December 11th, 2012
December 4th, 2012
Oh hi. :)
I was actually INCREDIBLY excited to open the emails today and see that I had a dual-written letter from Ryan and Evan.. Great format! Extremely hard to follow along with, but I expected nothing less. Sometimes I wonder if I actually miss family.. :) Hahaha. It's the strangest thing. I have no problems at all being away from home. I guess that you could say that "I get over it" easily. But it's always nice to hear from you all, and I appreciate it immensely. I also hope that those pictures came through.
Well last Saturday we were extremely blessed and had the baptisms of Nia & Maya . They're so awesome... They were baptized by a family friend in the ward that has been home teaching there and fellow shipping them for years and years and years. A LOT of their family attended the baptism, including several non-members. Her entire immediate family was there, mom and dad included. They also all attended their confirmation on Sunday morning - which is the first time their whole family has been at church since they moved to Richmond 15 years ago! Their mom was extremely supportive, and she hasn't been to church in 5 years at ALL. There's more work to do with their family, and we're not going to stop now. Oddly enough, it was their cousin who was the girl who signed up for baptisms for the dead a while ago..
Also - cool story about that girl! Her name is Reannah and she's living with her now-active grandmother and some other assorted family.. She's been coming to church for a long time now and has been telling her young women's leaders that she wants to be baptized. And - get ready for another "only in Utah" moment... - last Sunday, she got up and BORE HER TESTIMONY! So she's not baptized herself, wants to be baptized for her ancestors, and bore her testimony of how she knows the church is true. We taught her a lesson yesterday and, not surprisingly, she already knew a LOT of the doctrine and answered most of the questions in a curiously profound manner. Her dad is less-active and living in the home too, but he wants nothing to do with the lessons.. But he was at Nia & Maya's baptism on Saturday and was able to partake of the sweet spirit that was there. So he'll come around... And she should be getting baptized before the end of the year, MAYBE (miracle provided and God-willing..) even next Saturday! This mission is just crazy.. I hope that all the other missionaries in the field or entering the field are able to be blessed with cool experiences like this. How could the church not be true? It's incredible once you're an instrument in the Lord's hands full-time just how much you can see Heavenly Father's blessings enriching and uplifting people. I don't think I appreciated it fully until I got here - in fact I know I didn't. So many people are touched by his tender mercies and so many miracles go unnoticed. Sometimes we're just lucky enough to be the catalyst to bring to pass His miracles in His timing. :)
In other news, we've been picking up more appointments lately with new investigators that we've had in our sights now for a while. Tomorrow night we'll be teaching an 18 year old girl from Samoa and her 70-plus year old grandmother, who doesn't speak a WORD of English. Luckily, they moved here at the end of October and a missionary in their ward finished his mission 5 days later... And he served in Samoa. So he'll be translating for us. There are NO coincidences... I'm convinced. We're teaching another family in Smithfield tonight who is on their way back to church. We met with both stake presidents on Sunday and were able to discuss goals and plans of action for their respective stakes. The Richmond Stake has a LOT going right now.. Like a lot!! The Smithfield North Stake is much trickier. It is extremely highly member populated, and the people who live there who are either less-active or non-members are well-established in the area.. That is to say they've lived there for several years and have been approached numerous times and met with the missionaries before. With that stake it's more fasting and praying that the Lord will provide opportunities to open doors to touch these peoples lives again, and it's up to them to seize it or not. There are a lot of less-actives they're trying to get us in with, and there are several possibilities for reactivations in the future. The Richmond Stake is just brimming with potentials - there are an incredible amount of people who are not members of the church who are SO close! Within the next few months here there will be baptisms, and several of them. I don't know if I'm going to be around to see them. But I've done all that I could do. We still have to accept the Lord's timing. It is impossible to measure the success of a missionary by mere baptisms alone. We may never know how many seeds we planted or how much good we've done. But the perspective I've chosen to take is patterned after a talk that President Eyring said a couple conferences ago.. "I may not be a perfect servant every hour, but I can give more effort than I thought that I could." If we put forth the effort and exert our faith, miracles will happen. I know that to be true because I've seen it. The relationships that we build with members and non-members will resonate and carry through for many sets of missionaries to come. I pray that I may be one of the missionaries that people LIKE to follow into the area instead of the opposite... Mending areas isn't the funnest thing to do, but there are many ways to progress the Lord's work. Only a few people get to harvest. :)
Mom - Yeah, the music is gone. But I'm over it. It's actually kinda nicer to just be driving along in the car and the iPod shifts from an a-cappella Eric Whitacre piece to a song from Pirates of the Carribbean.. :) Hahaha. All of those movies have a remarkable soundtrack. I think I totally remember Affie having a ridiculously good memory. I also remember sitting and watching Jeopardy with her when Ken Jennings was wreaking havoc. I regret that I didn't learn scripture mastery, but it's all coming to me over time. I don't know which scriptures are the masteries exactly but my scriptures are more and more marked up. You might even be impressed! We just saw Heidi yesterday actually. We drop in and visit her every once in a while. I don't know her address - try facebook! Haha. The Star Valley cat killer got baptized back in July. He was waiting to turn 18 because his parents wouldn't give him permission to get married to his live-in girlfriend OR give him permission to be baptized. So after his birthday he did both! I haven't opened the Christmas box yet. I got a letter from Bill Frank last week! And I got my long hair pictures about a month ago.. No one believes its me.
Dad - We watched the Christmas devotional too! It was rather humorous to say the least. Would you believe that it was DOWNPOURING outside during the whole thing? It has rained 5 or 6 times in the past couple weeks... We could have had a lot of snow dumped on us by now, but the temperature has been hovering between 45 and 55 degrees. So no snow lately! And for the record, here comes the ward mission leaders.. (S3 - Spackman, S4 - Jones, S8 - Bates, S9 - Fortney, S12 - Enriquez, S19 - Connor, S22 - Wilson, R1 - there currently isn't one!, R2 - Bowles, R3 - Thatcher, R4 - Petroff, L1 - Dent, L2 - Anderson, L3 - Nebeker, L4 - Seamons, CI - Dayton, CC - Ward, CO - Thornley, B1 - Ballard, B2 - Findlay, AM - Baldwin (bishop's son..), TR - Barker, N1 - Griffin, N2 - Regen, C1 - Page, C2 - Austin, CR - Littlefield) .. Want their addresses too? :) If I ever come in contact with one of these phantom mission calls, I'll scan it or something. Random question - did you ever play through Zelda: Skyward Sword? I remember you agonizing over how long Twilight Princess was a few years back. Some BYU men's chorus might be nice - and the a cappella group you're thinking of is Vocal Point. You owe it to yourself to go set up the huge fireworks show! This is a once in an ever opportunity! Then again, the view is better from afar. Did you take videos of the pumpkin detonations this year? By the way.. I can still totally remember you teaching me the 26 digits of pi. 3.1415926535897932384626. I must be your son after all!
I love you all. Thanks for your continued support and prayers. "Stuff" is a-happening up here. And we hope that the Lord keeps up all his hard work. :)
- Elder Tyler Grant
I was actually INCREDIBLY excited to open the emails today and see that I had a dual-written letter from Ryan and Evan.. Great format! Extremely hard to follow along with, but I expected nothing less. Sometimes I wonder if I actually miss family.. :) Hahaha. It's the strangest thing. I have no problems at all being away from home. I guess that you could say that "I get over it" easily. But it's always nice to hear from you all, and I appreciate it immensely. I also hope that those pictures came through.
Well last Saturday we were extremely blessed and had the baptisms of Nia & Maya . They're so awesome... They were baptized by a family friend in the ward that has been home teaching there and fellow shipping them for years and years and years. A LOT of their family attended the baptism, including several non-members. Her entire immediate family was there, mom and dad included. They also all attended their confirmation on Sunday morning - which is the first time their whole family has been at church since they moved to Richmond 15 years ago! Their mom was extremely supportive, and she hasn't been to church in 5 years at ALL. There's more work to do with their family, and we're not going to stop now. Oddly enough, it was their cousin who was the girl who signed up for baptisms for the dead a while ago..
Also - cool story about that girl! Her name is Reannah and she's living with her now-active grandmother and some other assorted family.. She's been coming to church for a long time now and has been telling her young women's leaders that she wants to be baptized. And - get ready for another "only in Utah" moment... - last Sunday, she got up and BORE HER TESTIMONY! So she's not baptized herself, wants to be baptized for her ancestors, and bore her testimony of how she knows the church is true. We taught her a lesson yesterday and, not surprisingly, she already knew a LOT of the doctrine and answered most of the questions in a curiously profound manner. Her dad is less-active and living in the home too, but he wants nothing to do with the lessons.. But he was at Nia & Maya's baptism on Saturday and was able to partake of the sweet spirit that was there. So he'll come around... And she should be getting baptized before the end of the year, MAYBE (miracle provided and God-willing..) even next Saturday! This mission is just crazy.. I hope that all the other missionaries in the field or entering the field are able to be blessed with cool experiences like this. How could the church not be true? It's incredible once you're an instrument in the Lord's hands full-time just how much you can see Heavenly Father's blessings enriching and uplifting people. I don't think I appreciated it fully until I got here - in fact I know I didn't. So many people are touched by his tender mercies and so many miracles go unnoticed. Sometimes we're just lucky enough to be the catalyst to bring to pass His miracles in His timing. :)
In other news, we've been picking up more appointments lately with new investigators that we've had in our sights now for a while. Tomorrow night we'll be teaching an 18 year old girl from Samoa and her 70-plus year old grandmother, who doesn't speak a WORD of English. Luckily, they moved here at the end of October and a missionary in their ward finished his mission 5 days later... And he served in Samoa. So he'll be translating for us. There are NO coincidences... I'm convinced. We're teaching another family in Smithfield tonight who is on their way back to church. We met with both stake presidents on Sunday and were able to discuss goals and plans of action for their respective stakes. The Richmond Stake has a LOT going right now.. Like a lot!! The Smithfield North Stake is much trickier. It is extremely highly member populated, and the people who live there who are either less-active or non-members are well-established in the area.. That is to say they've lived there for several years and have been approached numerous times and met with the missionaries before. With that stake it's more fasting and praying that the Lord will provide opportunities to open doors to touch these peoples lives again, and it's up to them to seize it or not. There are a lot of less-actives they're trying to get us in with, and there are several possibilities for reactivations in the future. The Richmond Stake is just brimming with potentials - there are an incredible amount of people who are not members of the church who are SO close! Within the next few months here there will be baptisms, and several of them. I don't know if I'm going to be around to see them. But I've done all that I could do. We still have to accept the Lord's timing. It is impossible to measure the success of a missionary by mere baptisms alone. We may never know how many seeds we planted or how much good we've done. But the perspective I've chosen to take is patterned after a talk that President Eyring said a couple conferences ago.. "I may not be a perfect servant every hour, but I can give more effort than I thought that I could." If we put forth the effort and exert our faith, miracles will happen. I know that to be true because I've seen it. The relationships that we build with members and non-members will resonate and carry through for many sets of missionaries to come. I pray that I may be one of the missionaries that people LIKE to follow into the area instead of the opposite... Mending areas isn't the funnest thing to do, but there are many ways to progress the Lord's work. Only a few people get to harvest. :)
Mom - Yeah, the music is gone. But I'm over it. It's actually kinda nicer to just be driving along in the car and the iPod shifts from an a-cappella Eric Whitacre piece to a song from Pirates of the Carribbean.. :) Hahaha. All of those movies have a remarkable soundtrack. I think I totally remember Affie having a ridiculously good memory. I also remember sitting and watching Jeopardy with her when Ken Jennings was wreaking havoc. I regret that I didn't learn scripture mastery, but it's all coming to me over time. I don't know which scriptures are the masteries exactly but my scriptures are more and more marked up. You might even be impressed! We just saw Heidi yesterday actually. We drop in and visit her every once in a while. I don't know her address - try facebook! Haha. The Star Valley cat killer got baptized back in July. He was waiting to turn 18 because his parents wouldn't give him permission to get married to his live-in girlfriend OR give him permission to be baptized. So after his birthday he did both! I haven't opened the Christmas box yet. I got a letter from Bill Frank last week! And I got my long hair pictures about a month ago.. No one believes its me.
Dad - We watched the Christmas devotional too! It was rather humorous to say the least. Would you believe that it was DOWNPOURING outside during the whole thing? It has rained 5 or 6 times in the past couple weeks... We could have had a lot of snow dumped on us by now, but the temperature has been hovering between 45 and 55 degrees. So no snow lately! And for the record, here comes the ward mission leaders.. (S3 - Spackman, S4 - Jones, S8 - Bates, S9 - Fortney, S12 - Enriquez, S19 - Connor, S22 - Wilson, R1 - there currently isn't one!, R2 - Bowles, R3 - Thatcher, R4 - Petroff, L1 - Dent, L2 - Anderson, L3 - Nebeker, L4 - Seamons, CI - Dayton, CC - Ward, CO - Thornley, B1 - Ballard, B2 - Findlay, AM - Baldwin (bishop's son..), TR - Barker, N1 - Griffin, N2 - Regen, C1 - Page, C2 - Austin, CR - Littlefield) .. Want their addresses too? :) If I ever come in contact with one of these phantom mission calls, I'll scan it or something. Random question - did you ever play through Zelda: Skyward Sword? I remember you agonizing over how long Twilight Princess was a few years back. Some BYU men's chorus might be nice - and the a cappella group you're thinking of is Vocal Point. You owe it to yourself to go set up the huge fireworks show! This is a once in an ever opportunity! Then again, the view is better from afar. Did you take videos of the pumpkin detonations this year? By the way.. I can still totally remember you teaching me the 26 digits of pi. 3.1415926535897932384626. I must be your son after all!
I love you all. Thanks for your continued support and prayers. "Stuff" is a-happening up here. And we hope that the Lord keeps up all his hard work. :)
- Elder Tyler Grant
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
November 27th, 2012
Hey everyone!
So... I had another "only in Utah moment" last week. It was pretty crazy - we've been told about a part-member family from Alaska who moved into the ward in early October. And they've been faithfully attending church every week, the husband is a member and the wife was supposedly a non-member. So when we got the green light to go visit them, we weren't sure what to expect. Especially because we had talked to some people in the ward about them and were shocked to find out that the wife, who was supposed to be a non-member, not only stays for all 3 hours of church but answers questions, takes notes in relief society, and volunteers for prayers. Uhhh... And when we visited them, she answered the door and invited us in. We got talking to them a little bit and she started telling us about how when she was in college in Washington she used to feed the missionaries all the time. And it didn't feel right to just ask her if she wasn't a member because she gave us exactly zero reasons to believe that she wasn't! It was so mind-blowing. We had to leave for another appointment, and we never got to ask. Luckily, they offered to feed us for dinner and that gave us another opportunity to just drop in on them, and only the wife was home. So we set up a dinner, and I just said "Okay.. One last thing, and you can call me crazy, but.. Are you a member?" Luckily, she wasn't even taken aback. She said that she wasn't, that she's been investigating for 2 years now and she'll probably get baptized soon. Yeah... It's those types of people that I'm convinced I wouldn't have met in any other mission. And they moved here from ALASKA! Haha what the heck?
Other than that, this past week has been another big week of just straight up following up on referrals. People really trust us here and we've just been doing all we can with the names that we've been given. Things continue to roll forward and upward. We've still got 2 baptisms rock solid for this Saturday. In terms of the rest of this transfer, I'm not sure how many baptisms we'll have.. But, at best, this area is now "set up" with a ton of potential investigators for months to come. We have over 20 people who COULD be baptized before the end of the transfer. And, whenever their situations click and they become available, they'll follow through very quickly. I'm just glad I got to stay for this 3rd transfer. I still know that I'm not going to be able to see all the work I've put into this area through. But I've felt over the past 3 weeks that there have been numerous situations where me knowing the area, bishops, ward mission leaders, and everything else has been accelerating the work. I don't know if I've told you this already.. The longer I'm out the more and MORE I realize that I've been blessed with an EXTREMELY good memory. I can tell you right now who all of our bishops and ward mission leaders are, which less actives and nonmembers live in each of their wards, who's fellow shipping them, and what their situation is. I can tell you the missionaries who have been in this area for the last 2 years and which members liked which missionaries and who had success and who didn't take it seriously. I can tell you all of the recent converts for the 3 stakes for the last year and which missionaries were there when they were baptized. I don't make a point to memorize all this information - it just.. Sticks. I don't know why. Other Elders as well as ward mission leaders keep pointing it out. There have been countless times when a ward mission leader starts to talk about a person who the ward is working with and it just pops into my head the name of who they're talking about, which I had read from an ancient teaching record from 3 or 4 years before. It makes me think that that is one of the reasons why I'm here. It takes a lot to memorize 27 bishops (Jessop - S3rd, Williams - S4th, Jensen - S8th, Smith - S9th, Davis - S12th, Pitcher - S19th, Spendlove - S22nd, Nielsen - L1st, Buttars - L2nd, Jorgensen - L3rd, Chesley - L4th, Hogard - CO, Christensen - CC, Hall - CI, Baggaley - R1st, Whitman - R2nd, Jensen - R3rd, Pratt - R4th, Creech - CR, Ballard - B1st, Maughan - B2nd, Baldwin - AM, Walquist - N1st, Hodgson - N2nd, Sommers - C1st, Goodey - C2nd, Andrews - TR) but I had them all down after about 2 weeks. I could give you all the ward mission leaders too if you want. :)
Mom - I logged on 2 minutes before your e-mail.. So I got it before I started writing. :) Yeah he sounds a lot like the guy we're dealing with. And sadly it's kind of a brick wall. We're doing what we can, but we can only work from a distance. Something about the name tag makes us threatening when we show up at the door. We don't go to the temple a ton anymore.. We got it changed so we can only go once a month now. Our priority is doing work on THIS side of the veil. Haha how did we have dinner with the Whites? They called us and invited us first! They called like, 3 weeks before Thanksgiving and said they wanted us to come. So they came and picked us up - we met them in Logan so it was less than a half hour away. It was pretty awesome. I found out that one of the sister missionaries was in Matt & Zack Kelly's ward at BYU-I and she TOTALLY knew who they were! Small world moment! That's exciting that everyone is coming for Christmas. How many areas are there? I'd venture to say about 100. There are about 200 missionaries in the mission right now - when all the new missionaries start coming in we're looking to have about 250. And I got my "care" package! I have already worn the tie with raving reviews. And I have my Christmas package already... I'm not going to open it! I guess the office changed their mind about holding onto packages.
Dad - One thing that I thought that you might enjoy.. We've heard from several people now about a new 'clause' that they're slipping into the mission calls! To preface this change, let me just say that China has just recently gotten a brand new less-communistic prime minister. I've heard of this clause appearing on 4 or 5 mission calls now, from anywhere from Vancouver to the Philippines. And what it says basically is that they will be assigned to their mission in their mission language and it is estimated that they will serve for 2 years. BUT!! If China opens up to missionaries, they will be asked to serve a THIRD year in Mandarin Chinese in China. How crazy is that? The Lord.. Is hastening his work.
So... I had another "only in Utah moment" last week. It was pretty crazy - we've been told about a part-member family from Alaska who moved into the ward in early October. And they've been faithfully attending church every week, the husband is a member and the wife was supposedly a non-member. So when we got the green light to go visit them, we weren't sure what to expect. Especially because we had talked to some people in the ward about them and were shocked to find out that the wife, who was supposed to be a non-member, not only stays for all 3 hours of church but answers questions, takes notes in relief society, and volunteers for prayers. Uhhh... And when we visited them, she answered the door and invited us in. We got talking to them a little bit and she started telling us about how when she was in college in Washington she used to feed the missionaries all the time. And it didn't feel right to just ask her if she wasn't a member because she gave us exactly zero reasons to believe that she wasn't! It was so mind-blowing. We had to leave for another appointment, and we never got to ask. Luckily, they offered to feed us for dinner and that gave us another opportunity to just drop in on them, and only the wife was home. So we set up a dinner, and I just said "Okay.. One last thing, and you can call me crazy, but.. Are you a member?" Luckily, she wasn't even taken aback. She said that she wasn't, that she's been investigating for 2 years now and she'll probably get baptized soon. Yeah... It's those types of people that I'm convinced I wouldn't have met in any other mission. And they moved here from ALASKA! Haha what the heck?
Other than that, this past week has been another big week of just straight up following up on referrals. People really trust us here and we've just been doing all we can with the names that we've been given. Things continue to roll forward and upward. We've still got 2 baptisms rock solid for this Saturday. In terms of the rest of this transfer, I'm not sure how many baptisms we'll have.. But, at best, this area is now "set up" with a ton of potential investigators for months to come. We have over 20 people who COULD be baptized before the end of the transfer. And, whenever their situations click and they become available, they'll follow through very quickly. I'm just glad I got to stay for this 3rd transfer. I still know that I'm not going to be able to see all the work I've put into this area through. But I've felt over the past 3 weeks that there have been numerous situations where me knowing the area, bishops, ward mission leaders, and everything else has been accelerating the work. I don't know if I've told you this already.. The longer I'm out the more and MORE I realize that I've been blessed with an EXTREMELY good memory. I can tell you right now who all of our bishops and ward mission leaders are, which less actives and nonmembers live in each of their wards, who's fellow shipping them, and what their situation is. I can tell you the missionaries who have been in this area for the last 2 years and which members liked which missionaries and who had success and who didn't take it seriously. I can tell you all of the recent converts for the 3 stakes for the last year and which missionaries were there when they were baptized. I don't make a point to memorize all this information - it just.. Sticks. I don't know why. Other Elders as well as ward mission leaders keep pointing it out. There have been countless times when a ward mission leader starts to talk about a person who the ward is working with and it just pops into my head the name of who they're talking about, which I had read from an ancient teaching record from 3 or 4 years before. It makes me think that that is one of the reasons why I'm here. It takes a lot to memorize 27 bishops (Jessop - S3rd, Williams - S4th, Jensen - S8th, Smith - S9th, Davis - S12th, Pitcher - S19th, Spendlove - S22nd, Nielsen - L1st, Buttars - L2nd, Jorgensen - L3rd, Chesley - L4th, Hogard - CO, Christensen - CC, Hall - CI, Baggaley - R1st, Whitman - R2nd, Jensen - R3rd, Pratt - R4th, Creech - CR, Ballard - B1st, Maughan - B2nd, Baldwin - AM, Walquist - N1st, Hodgson - N2nd, Sommers - C1st, Goodey - C2nd, Andrews - TR) but I had them all down after about 2 weeks. I could give you all the ward mission leaders too if you want. :)
Mom - I logged on 2 minutes before your e-mail.. So I got it before I started writing. :) Yeah he sounds a lot like the guy we're dealing with. And sadly it's kind of a brick wall. We're doing what we can, but we can only work from a distance. Something about the name tag makes us threatening when we show up at the door. We don't go to the temple a ton anymore.. We got it changed so we can only go once a month now. Our priority is doing work on THIS side of the veil. Haha how did we have dinner with the Whites? They called us and invited us first! They called like, 3 weeks before Thanksgiving and said they wanted us to come. So they came and picked us up - we met them in Logan so it was less than a half hour away. It was pretty awesome. I found out that one of the sister missionaries was in Matt & Zack Kelly's ward at BYU-I and she TOTALLY knew who they were! Small world moment! That's exciting that everyone is coming for Christmas. How many areas are there? I'd venture to say about 100. There are about 200 missionaries in the mission right now - when all the new missionaries start coming in we're looking to have about 250. And I got my "care" package! I have already worn the tie with raving reviews. And I have my Christmas package already... I'm not going to open it! I guess the office changed their mind about holding onto packages.
Dad - One thing that I thought that you might enjoy.. We've heard from several people now about a new 'clause' that they're slipping into the mission calls! To preface this change, let me just say that China has just recently gotten a brand new less-communistic prime minister. I've heard of this clause appearing on 4 or 5 mission calls now, from anywhere from Vancouver to the Philippines. And what it says basically is that they will be assigned to their mission in their mission language and it is estimated that they will serve for 2 years. BUT!! If China opens up to missionaries, they will be asked to serve a THIRD year in Mandarin Chinese in China. How crazy is that? The Lord.. Is hastening his work.
You were on the winning team for the Turkey Bowl!
We had kind of a zone football game on Thanksgiving day and sadly I was
not on the winning team. Are your gerbils still alive? And I got your
email regarding the "hangout" information.. What time are we gonna plan
this for? The part that sucks is that transfers are on the 19th so if I
get moved to a new area I'll have to hustle and find a place to chat
with you guys. But we shouldn't be too restricted on time, especially
because Christmas is on a P-Day this year. :) And Ryan didn't send me
an e-mail. Baby steps, I guess. So did you ever teach English classes
to try and find investigators in Japan? I've heard from many people
telling me that they had a lot of success doing that. I know you street
contacted a ton.. Just wondering if they allowed you to do that.
Anyways. I love you all! Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving. Keep praying for miracles! :)
Love,
- Elder Tyler Grant
Anyways. I love you all! Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving. Keep praying for miracles! :)
Love,
- Elder Tyler Grant
November 20th, 2012
Hey everyone!
Well... We've still got 4 people with a baptismal date! And oddly enough, we may have a few more on the way... The girl who signed up for baptisms for the dead is still in the works. We're waiting for them to get back from an extra-long Thanksgiving vacation so that her family can be involved in the teaching. Oddly enough, she has been going to church for a WHILE now and as I think I mentioned last week, I've met the family. So she has a really solid and ACTIVE fellowship, which is the ideal situation. Haha.. We talked to her Young Women's leader and she said that the girl is just ridiculously excited about baptism. As she put it, during church it was like "Hey Sister Tanner! Have you talked to the missionaries!? Have you talked to Brother Ward (the WML)!? When can I get baptized? Can I go to the temple soon? Hey have you talked to the missionaries yet!?" It reminded me somewhat of a talk that Elder Holland gave a few years ago that they shared with us in the MTC... He said that he had missionaries ask him why baptisms were so hard. After all, we have the truth! People should be flocking to the font, and the only problem we should have to worry about should be "getting hypothermia because of all the time standing in the water." In reality, Satan is a fighter. He attacks people and makes all the efforts he can to sway people from being baptized. But, sometimes, you catch a glimpse of just how excited someone can really be... :) We'll probably meet up with her and her family sometime next week, and she wants to be baptized mid-December. I hope I'm here!
We've also been working with another 16 year old kid in one of the Richmond wards who told his leaders he wants to be baptized. The more I thought about it, the more I realize just how awesome the youth program of the church is. In Utah, a lot of the baptisms that take place are of boys and girls involved in the Young Men's, Young Women's, and scouting programs. Most of the time, the teenagers who want to be baptized have parents who are members of the church, but for some reason or another have fallen away. It's just such a sweet opportunity to see when that spark of testimony ignites in one of the youth, and that can be used to activate the rest of the family. I've seen in plenty of times. And that's what we're hoping is going to happen with this kid in particular... He lived in Ogden, was going to mutual activities, and was even going to church and taking the missionary lessons.. And then they moved. We talked to him at his friend's house yesterday, and we even found out he was interviewed and cleared to be baptized that weekend.. And then he moved. But now the situation is his grandfather.. Is extremely against the church. His family is living with his grandfather, and .. well, to put it nicely, he's kind of a nut. He's the most judgmental, closed off, controlling person I've ever met. Seriously. If any of the kids will be getting ready to go to a youth activity, he'll ask them where they're going, and if the "Mormon kids" are involved, he'll make sure that he immediately grounds them and says that they can't leave the house. After talking with the kid yesterday, I couldn't believe the desire that he had. He knew that there was a lot of opposition, but he basically told us he's going to do what it takes to be able to take this step. So we're praying for miracles again. :)
The 18 year old girl and her sister who contacted us last week have now officially been interviewed and cleared, the baptism is scheduled, and they've been fitted for jumpsuits. We're going over details for the program with them tomorrow. And - oddly enough - they have a 15 year old brother who has been going to young mens for like, 4 years now.. And he has a friend leaving on a mission who's challenging him to be baptized with his sisters. Gah.. Everyone is so close!
Well... We've still got 4 people with a baptismal date! And oddly enough, we may have a few more on the way... The girl who signed up for baptisms for the dead is still in the works. We're waiting for them to get back from an extra-long Thanksgiving vacation so that her family can be involved in the teaching. Oddly enough, she has been going to church for a WHILE now and as I think I mentioned last week, I've met the family. So she has a really solid and ACTIVE fellowship, which is the ideal situation. Haha.. We talked to her Young Women's leader and she said that the girl is just ridiculously excited about baptism. As she put it, during church it was like "Hey Sister Tanner! Have you talked to the missionaries!? Have you talked to Brother Ward (the WML)!? When can I get baptized? Can I go to the temple soon? Hey have you talked to the missionaries yet!?" It reminded me somewhat of a talk that Elder Holland gave a few years ago that they shared with us in the MTC... He said that he had missionaries ask him why baptisms were so hard. After all, we have the truth! People should be flocking to the font, and the only problem we should have to worry about should be "getting hypothermia because of all the time standing in the water." In reality, Satan is a fighter. He attacks people and makes all the efforts he can to sway people from being baptized. But, sometimes, you catch a glimpse of just how excited someone can really be... :) We'll probably meet up with her and her family sometime next week, and she wants to be baptized mid-December. I hope I'm here!
We've also been working with another 16 year old kid in one of the Richmond wards who told his leaders he wants to be baptized. The more I thought about it, the more I realize just how awesome the youth program of the church is. In Utah, a lot of the baptisms that take place are of boys and girls involved in the Young Men's, Young Women's, and scouting programs. Most of the time, the teenagers who want to be baptized have parents who are members of the church, but for some reason or another have fallen away. It's just such a sweet opportunity to see when that spark of testimony ignites in one of the youth, and that can be used to activate the rest of the family. I've seen in plenty of times. And that's what we're hoping is going to happen with this kid in particular... He lived in Ogden, was going to mutual activities, and was even going to church and taking the missionary lessons.. And then they moved. We talked to him at his friend's house yesterday, and we even found out he was interviewed and cleared to be baptized that weekend.. And then he moved. But now the situation is his grandfather.. Is extremely against the church. His family is living with his grandfather, and .. well, to put it nicely, he's kind of a nut. He's the most judgmental, closed off, controlling person I've ever met. Seriously. If any of the kids will be getting ready to go to a youth activity, he'll ask them where they're going, and if the "Mormon kids" are involved, he'll make sure that he immediately grounds them and says that they can't leave the house. After talking with the kid yesterday, I couldn't believe the desire that he had. He knew that there was a lot of opposition, but he basically told us he's going to do what it takes to be able to take this step. So we're praying for miracles again. :)
The 18 year old girl and her sister who contacted us last week have now officially been interviewed and cleared, the baptism is scheduled, and they've been fitted for jumpsuits. We're going over details for the program with them tomorrow. And - oddly enough - they have a 15 year old brother who has been going to young mens for like, 4 years now.. And he has a friend leaving on a mission who's challenging him to be baptized with his sisters. Gah.. Everyone is so close!
For the record, I DID hit my year-mark on Friday.. And I'm kind of
tripped out by that. It almost seems like all of the sudden I'm no
longer drawing upon an unlimited source of time. I don't know if you
recall at 6 months I burned a tie, but for the year mark you're supposed
to burn a shirt.. So we did! It wasn't my shirt though. it was a really
old shirt that another missionary found in the closet in their
apartment. There were 4 of us in the zone who hit our year mark on the
same day, but one of them was busy, so we got together at the park and
took pictures and videos. I'm probably gonna send pictures and stuff
home soon.. Probably for Christmas. :) I'm not sure how much longer I'm
going to stay in Richmond, but there's finally a ton of work going on
here.. Which, if the recurring theme strikes again, I'll be gone before
any of them get baptized.. But we'll see!
Mom - How many people are in the branch now? I can't believe that the growth has been that much.. That many baptisms? Mostly new move-ins? I forgot about the pocket sized hymnbooks.. I'll pick them up today or tomorrow. I do not have a speaking problem! That guy was just not paying very close attention to the message.. I haven't gotten a small package yet I don't think. I should be good on meds for a bit.. Maybe some concerta soon would be okay. Sorry I'm not writing you too much today.. You didn't ask a lot of questions! And Dad asked me a lot! Here goes nothing:
Mom - How many people are in the branch now? I can't believe that the growth has been that much.. That many baptisms? Mostly new move-ins? I forgot about the pocket sized hymnbooks.. I'll pick them up today or tomorrow. I do not have a speaking problem! That guy was just not paying very close attention to the message.. I haven't gotten a small package yet I don't think. I should be good on meds for a bit.. Maybe some concerta soon would be okay. Sorry I'm not writing you too much today.. You didn't ask a lot of questions! And Dad asked me a lot! Here goes nothing:
Dad - Longest letter ever! Holy cow! We're really enjoying the
blessings that are coming to pass. Did you ever have times where the
area you were in just caught fire? Right now, all the leaders
and members really trust us and there are just awesome things
happening. And I'm trying to be a cool missionary! I think I remember
saying in some of my last letters that being a missionary in Utah is
completely different than any other part of the world for a lot of
reasons, but I think one of the biggest was highlighted by someone we
talked to last week. They asked us "Why are you guys so different than
any of the RMs or missionaries I've met outside of Utah? You're not
nearly as .. Intense?" I can answer that question! People in Utah..
They know who we are. Members or not. And a door approach to a non
member can NOT simply be: "Hey! We're the missionaries for the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and we have a message to share
with you!" We'd get laughed at. Everyone knows the logistics of the
message, and there are no surprises who we are. Instead, our number one
goal is to be the person that members and nonmembers can trust. We have
to be flexible. We have to be PERSONABLE... We have to be ourselves. I
think this is possibly the best mission I could have been called to. I
realized that I have a gift when it comes to just talking to and
connecting with people. As soon as people trust you, then they will
open up. So if you're expecting me to come back and be completely
solemn and rigid, prepare to be disappointed. More than anything I've
learned how to be myself and tie that into our purpose. I'm glad you
had a great teaching opportunity in Young Men's! That subject (the
promptings of the Holy Ghost) is an extremely intriguing one. And when
it comes to recognizing it, I've learned to take Elder Bednar's
approach.. "Is it the Spirit or is it just me? Stop worrying about it!"
I think I told you about an experience I had in Ogden where my
companion and I were going to make a visit to a nearby investigator
which we visited often, and we always took the same route to get there.
However, this one particular time, we both decided to walk the longer,
more uphill route.. And happened to walk by the bus stop as the bus got
there, and one of the guys we had been trying to reach for weeks
stepped off the bus right in front of us. More than anything, I know
that being guided is part of being set apart. We are entitled to and
receptive to the Spirit as we put ourselves in the Lord's hands whether
we know it or not. Answers to prayers have come, and I've been able to
recognize a tangible feeling more than once. It's more of a steady
stream of miracles, however, that makes me feel like Heavenly Father is
there. Things just.. Work out. :) I hope that makes sense. I wrote
somewhat of a long response today I guess..
Oh - and I don't know if my myldsmail account will allow me to go to google+ "hangout" ... So if you want to you can just create me an account and give me the information. That will probably be the easiest way to do it. :) Since I can't guarantee I can make an account or remember a password to an old one. Hook me up! :)
Anyhow. I love you all. Enjoy thanksgiving, I'm grateful for your prayers and thoughts.
- Elder Tyler Grant
Oh - and I don't know if my myldsmail account will allow me to go to google+ "hangout" ... So if you want to you can just create me an account and give me the information. That will probably be the easiest way to do it. :) Since I can't guarantee I can make an account or remember a password to an old one. Hook me up! :)
Anyhow. I love you all. Enjoy thanksgiving, I'm grateful for your prayers and thoughts.
- Elder Tyler Grant
November 13th, 2012
Hey!
So in this past week, we went from zero people with a baptismal date to four! I mean, what the heck!
So on Thursday we were sitting in a meeting with the zone, and randomly we get a text message from an 18 year old girl named Nia. She's met with missionaries before, and she's been going to church pretty regularly for a while now. And we haven't met with her because she's always busy or said that she wasn't ready right now. I opened the text message and all it said was "Hey boys! Lets get this girl baptized!" Out of NOwhere! We went and visited her 2 days later when she was off work, and she was sitting on the couch with her 12 year old sister... Who ALSO wants to get baptized! We've been holding off on visiting them because they've been highly pressured by missionaries in the past and they've had negative experiences. But we went over the baptismal interview questions with them, answered the questions that they had, and set up a date for December 1st! In fact, right when we had met with them they had just finished shopping for clothes for their baptism day. I love Utah.. It's super strange. I think I've mentioned it before - but it seems like Heavenly Father looks out for us as long as we are doing what he asks us to do. We may not have 100% success with every referral that we visit, but as long as we're doing the most we can with the Lord's time, someone ALWAYS pops up.
Speaking of which.. I had another "Only in Utah" moment the other day. At our Sunday correlation meeting with the Richmond Stake we were talking to the ward mission leaders and one of them walked in late.. He then said "I literally just finished talking with a girl who's 12 years old and signed up for baptisms for the dead. But she's not a member.. Can you do something about that?" I have MET this girl before. I have MET her family. I have TALKED with her young women's leaders. She's been going to church for 6 months. And they just realized that she's not a member! She's been living with her grandma and going to church faithfully and her parents are supportive. I mean, how does that even happen? It's literally the weirdest place to serve a mission on the entire planet. A few weeks ago we spoke in a ward and it went really well. Everybody was coming up to us and telling us how great of a job we did, and out of nowhere a super old guy sneaks up behind us and slips a piece of paper in my pocket. It said, "You are an amazing speaker! I felt the Spirit as you talked, but I must offer one criticism: You say "Uhh" and "Ahh" occasionally, and it was really distracting. You are a great speaker! God bless!"
...
So in this past week, we went from zero people with a baptismal date to four! I mean, what the heck!
So on Thursday we were sitting in a meeting with the zone, and randomly we get a text message from an 18 year old girl named Nia. She's met with missionaries before, and she's been going to church pretty regularly for a while now. And we haven't met with her because she's always busy or said that she wasn't ready right now. I opened the text message and all it said was "Hey boys! Lets get this girl baptized!" Out of NOwhere! We went and visited her 2 days later when she was off work, and she was sitting on the couch with her 12 year old sister... Who ALSO wants to get baptized! We've been holding off on visiting them because they've been highly pressured by missionaries in the past and they've had negative experiences. But we went over the baptismal interview questions with them, answered the questions that they had, and set up a date for December 1st! In fact, right when we had met with them they had just finished shopping for clothes for their baptism day. I love Utah.. It's super strange. I think I've mentioned it before - but it seems like Heavenly Father looks out for us as long as we are doing what he asks us to do. We may not have 100% success with every referral that we visit, but as long as we're doing the most we can with the Lord's time, someone ALWAYS pops up.
Speaking of which.. I had another "Only in Utah" moment the other day. At our Sunday correlation meeting with the Richmond Stake we were talking to the ward mission leaders and one of them walked in late.. He then said "I literally just finished talking with a girl who's 12 years old and signed up for baptisms for the dead. But she's not a member.. Can you do something about that?" I have MET this girl before. I have MET her family. I have TALKED with her young women's leaders. She's been going to church for 6 months. And they just realized that she's not a member! She's been living with her grandma and going to church faithfully and her parents are supportive. I mean, how does that even happen? It's literally the weirdest place to serve a mission on the entire planet. A few weeks ago we spoke in a ward and it went really well. Everybody was coming up to us and telling us how great of a job we did, and out of nowhere a super old guy sneaks up behind us and slips a piece of paper in my pocket. It said, "You are an amazing speaker! I felt the Spirit as you talked, but I must offer one criticism: You say "Uhh" and "Ahh" occasionally, and it was really distracting. You are a great speaker! God bless!"
...
...
... *facepalm*
We had a visit last week with a guy named Joe. Who, initially, was not very pumped to see us as we walked up. Actually as we walked up he was outside changing a tire, and the first thing he said was "I'm NOT happy with your church right now." Apparently he had asked his neighbor to get in contact with the bishop about finding some temporary help... And his neighbor forgot. So the guy had been living in his car for the past two weeks, and it's been snowing... But we went and talked with the bishop and visited Joe the next day. He was talking to us at the door for a second, then invited us in... He talked to us about his past religious experiences, and we ended up having an hour long lesson with him. The entire time, I was just praying that he would listen to us. He needs the Atonement in his life so badly. He's had family problems and is beating himself up over it, and feels like he has no self-worth. He used to be a church going man, but he feels like he has separated himself too far from the presence of God and he just wants to feel peace.. It's so crazy being a missionary. People trust us like a perfect stranger. We don't know them or their background, but they will open up to us and share with us what matters most to them. What God means to them. What they care about. What their problems are. It's just... Indescribable.
Our success stories are not alone. Actually, this last transfer was a build-up transfer for our zone. President Hiers came down on us because as a zone we only had two baptisms last transfer. And last Wednesday there were only 4 people with a baptismal date. As of yesterday, the zone now has 19 people preparing for baptism. It's literally blowing up up here. The Richmond Stake is exploding. Everyone is doing well. And it's a great day to be a missionary. :)
Mom - I DID get nanny's box.. But I may have forgotten it was a Christmas box. And I may have eaten a few of the chips. Or two bags already. My bad. Is it really still 70 back in Iowa? That's so strange. I don't need autism info.. I'll be fine. Things are getting better. We had a good talk about it and he's opened up to me a lot more. He's really a good kid, I'm just being patient and stuff. Tell Ryan I say hi! And I miss Taco John's SO bad! And yeah that's the one that we opened.. The one next to Kohl's. SCWIIIIPTURE POWEWWW!! Tell Ryan I won't be offended if he leaves on his mission.. But it WOULD be awesome to see him again! I'm looking for some new piano music for Christmas.
Dad - Yeah. Obama is the president. So that kind of sucks... You may be interested to know that Utah DIDN'T vote for him. The electoral system seems completely loaded.. LIke, seriously. The states in the west don't even mean anything. The east coast and California will ALWAYS vote Democrat and they're worth like over half the votes. It's retarded. My companion and I are doing better. It'll be a productive transfer for sure. Do you have cool missionaries for Ryan to go out on splits with? Or are they weirdos? Hahaha.. And I can't believe you're still playing geometry wars!! And I can't believe my record still stands! I'll have to come back and smash the record when I get back.
I love you guys. Pray for miracles. :)
- Elder Grant
... *facepalm*
We had a visit last week with a guy named Joe. Who, initially, was not very pumped to see us as we walked up. Actually as we walked up he was outside changing a tire, and the first thing he said was "I'm NOT happy with your church right now." Apparently he had asked his neighbor to get in contact with the bishop about finding some temporary help... And his neighbor forgot. So the guy had been living in his car for the past two weeks, and it's been snowing... But we went and talked with the bishop and visited Joe the next day. He was talking to us at the door for a second, then invited us in... He talked to us about his past religious experiences, and we ended up having an hour long lesson with him. The entire time, I was just praying that he would listen to us. He needs the Atonement in his life so badly. He's had family problems and is beating himself up over it, and feels like he has no self-worth. He used to be a church going man, but he feels like he has separated himself too far from the presence of God and he just wants to feel peace.. It's so crazy being a missionary. People trust us like a perfect stranger. We don't know them or their background, but they will open up to us and share with us what matters most to them. What God means to them. What they care about. What their problems are. It's just... Indescribable.
Our success stories are not alone. Actually, this last transfer was a build-up transfer for our zone. President Hiers came down on us because as a zone we only had two baptisms last transfer. And last Wednesday there were only 4 people with a baptismal date. As of yesterday, the zone now has 19 people preparing for baptism. It's literally blowing up up here. The Richmond Stake is exploding. Everyone is doing well. And it's a great day to be a missionary. :)
Mom - I DID get nanny's box.. But I may have forgotten it was a Christmas box. And I may have eaten a few of the chips. Or two bags already. My bad. Is it really still 70 back in Iowa? That's so strange. I don't need autism info.. I'll be fine. Things are getting better. We had a good talk about it and he's opened up to me a lot more. He's really a good kid, I'm just being patient and stuff. Tell Ryan I say hi! And I miss Taco John's SO bad! And yeah that's the one that we opened.. The one next to Kohl's. SCWIIIIPTURE POWEWWW!! Tell Ryan I won't be offended if he leaves on his mission.. But it WOULD be awesome to see him again! I'm looking for some new piano music for Christmas.
Dad - Yeah. Obama is the president. So that kind of sucks... You may be interested to know that Utah DIDN'T vote for him. The electoral system seems completely loaded.. LIke, seriously. The states in the west don't even mean anything. The east coast and California will ALWAYS vote Democrat and they're worth like over half the votes. It's retarded. My companion and I are doing better. It'll be a productive transfer for sure. Do you have cool missionaries for Ryan to go out on splits with? Or are they weirdos? Hahaha.. And I can't believe you're still playing geometry wars!! And I can't believe my record still stands! I'll have to come back and smash the record when I get back.
I love you guys. Pray for miracles. :)
- Elder Grant
Monday, November 12, 2012
November 6th, 2012
I'm staying! For once
I get to stay longer than 3 months! Another fun fact: Our area is being
SPLIT!! So the enormous stake that we have had zero time to work in is
officially being covered by another set of missionaries. Which means
our area is no longer the most retardedly spread out gargantuan area in
the mission. Which means we can FOCUS on the absurd amount of
potentials that we have going for us right now... And I get to keep
training! Oddly enough, our zone didn't change much at all. 6 of the 8
companionships aren't changing at all. This transfer SHOULD be amazing.
If I have the patience...
So we did have Tim's baptism last Saturday! It was so funny - we called him that morning to remind him to show up a bit early and bring all his things, and right when he picked up the phone he said "You guys aren't chickening out on me are you? I'm still getting baptized, right?" He was just so excited. His Uncle Bob baptized him and right when he came out of the water he said "You did it Timmy!" Yeah his uncle is a bit of a goofball.. His wife and her family were all there, and so were his grandparents who are nonmembers! After the baptism they came up to us and they had tears in their eyes. They also came to sacrament to see him get confirmed. I know they felt the spirit and I think they knew it to. At the baptism I challenged everybody to pay attention to the feelings they were getting in their hearts, to recognize that they WERE in fact from God, and if so to ponder what God was trying to tell them. Hopefully we can start teaching them soon - they're amazing people and even pay fast offerings to the church regularly when the deacons come around. We also learned that this was one of only two baptisms that our zone had this transfer... It's been a build-up transfer for sure. Just about every area now has 3 or 4 people with a baptismal date who are actually solid and committed to be baptized. We have a lot that are close! Commitment level will have to depend on how committed WE are to helping them.
We had a mission conference last week! Elder Falabella from the first quorum of the seventy came and trained us. It was actually a way good conference. He talked about the difference between ward missionaries and us; we are not just here to teach when we have lessons. We are FULL-TIME missionaries. All of our time, all of our energies, all of our focus should be centered ONLY on our purpose, which is to invite others to come unto Christ. As it says in Doctrine and Covenants section 4 we have to serve with all our "heart, might, mind, and strength." We can serve a mission with all our might and strength, but never really give our heart and mind. All in all it was a pretty sweet training.
Mom - Wait a minute.. Questions about politics? I didn't realize until today that TODAY is ELECTION DAY!! Holy crap.. That's kind of scary. I guess we'll have to pray for a miracle.. I must say there's considerably more Romney signs on people's lawns around here than Obama signs. Glad to hear about the Halloween success - we spent the evening sitting inside wishing that we could go get candy and get compliments on how much we actually looked like missionaries. Ha. Ha. Why won't you let Dad blow up the poinsettias? Who did I honor for Day of the Dead? Why, Steve Irwin of course! Yo-yo referral means nothing. I think I made up the term. I think I was trying to say that the referral sounded golden and when we visited it retracted about as fast as it came.
Dad - RYAN'S BACK!! I'm still praying for him, and I'm so relieved to hear he's finally on the up slope. Did you do anything for the cast party? You should have blown something up. Don't you love it when Evan says something profound? *wink* It's better than that one day he came out of his room and apologized because he had just prayed to Satan. The veil is very thin! And I never did get my absentee ballot thing done... Hopefully Iowa picks right. And we'll definitely have to go to Japan someday. Or maybe just back to Star Valley...
This transfer is gonna be a good one. I genuinely hope so. Praying for miracles!
- Elder Tyler Grant
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
October 30th, 2012
Hello!
Guhh.. I always forget my planner.. Why on earth do I do this to myself!? Quick note - I got the Halloween package last Friday! I'm currently wearing my orange iPod watch... It's so bright! Maybe, for conservative-ness sake, I should have a black one instead.. I can get away with the orange one right now because it's Halloween-y... But a black one would probably be more appropriate for every other time of the year. :)
Well guess what? Tim is getting baptized this Saturday! We just got him cleared and interviewed yesterday and he's good to go. I'm continually amazed by how prepared some people are. Heavenly Father is in charge of His work, that's for sure. We can do His work our way, but it rarely produces fruit. When someone is ready, they will come. Not that we only teach people who are completely golden.. But when a person exercises their agency righteously to seek us out and truly seek the covenants and blessings attached that Heavenly Father has for us, that is when they are converted. His uncle will be baptizing him and he's just so excited... His fiancee... I mean wife... Is also becoming more and more active as he's making the journey towards Christ. With considerable faith and a touch of a miracle (praying for this one..) we'll be able to start teaching Tim's grandparents as well, as they are both non-members. They're 85 years old, they pay tithing to the church, watch conference, and they've even lately been asking us to give blessings in their home. Just yesterday after Tim's interview his grandma asked us if we would give Tim a blessing before his appointment with the cardiologist the following day. The first time we gave a blessing in their home, his grandpa told us "That was amazing. Sometimes you question your faith and wonder what's really true, you know?" Everyone got silent, and he quickly recovered and said "Uhh... He's testing me! That must be it. Seeing if I'll stay true." The Spirit is working on them. Hopefully at Tim's baptism there will be some crazy change of heart. That would be pretty cool!
We also had another yo-yo referral.. And by that I mean we showed up at the church to go to the restroom and the bishop called us over. It was mutual night, and he pointed to a kid playing basketball and said "Robbie wants to be baptized." The kid came over to us, introduced himself, and said he's been thinking about being baptized since he was 10 years old and he's almost 16. They were meeting with the missionaries down in Ogden before they moved to Richmond and he was going to be baptized there, but they moved and it didn't happen. So we set up an appointment with him, and when we showed up, we realized it was a new-move-in family we'd been trying to meet with for the past several weeks, not knowing that Robbie was even there. But when we got there, Robbie came to the door and was about to let us in, and a voice in the back said "I'll take care of it." His grandpa then came to the door and tried telling us that the Boy Scouts sent us and that the church is working with the scouting program to bring more 'recruits' into the church because 'we're running out of money' ... He then told us to do our missionary work, but not there. I hate Satan. We tried talking with him for 10 minutes, and he kept bringing up the strangest, most irrelevant political points that had convinced him that the church was merely a good business and had nothing to do with Jesus Christ. I bore my testimony to him, and he shot me down. It was so frustrating - there are people who are ready to be taught but they can't be. I hate it. We'll keep trying, but it kinda completely sucks. There's another family over in Lewiston who has been going to church actively for about 9 months now and there are 3 kids (17, 15, and 14) who are completely involved in the youth program who want to be baptized. Their mother actively attends church with them to and she wants their family to be sealed together. But - the dad, who is at the moment living in Wyoming and is stone cold less active, refuses to let them be baptized and won't give his consent. There's a lot of that in Utah.. I guess all we can do is just keep pressing on and hope that the work moves with us.
So! The fireside! Was pretty sweet as well. We sang "The Spirit of God" again and that was about the highlight.. Too bad we sang that one first. Everybody loved it, but I can't help but pick apart the things I knew could be better haha. Maybe I need to be more appreciative... :) There were a lot of very strong testimonies borne, and hopefully hearts were touched. I still miss being in choir. I never realized how musically involved I was... Band, jazz band, choir, all state, musical theater... It all adds up. I've taken up to trying to play the piano more often whenever the opportunity is presented. I'm still on the lookout for more music for Ryan, and I may have a few winners... Maybe for Christmas. :)
Guhh.. I always forget my planner.. Why on earth do I do this to myself!? Quick note - I got the Halloween package last Friday! I'm currently wearing my orange iPod watch... It's so bright! Maybe, for conservative-ness sake, I should have a black one instead.. I can get away with the orange one right now because it's Halloween-y... But a black one would probably be more appropriate for every other time of the year. :)
Well guess what? Tim is getting baptized this Saturday! We just got him cleared and interviewed yesterday and he's good to go. I'm continually amazed by how prepared some people are. Heavenly Father is in charge of His work, that's for sure. We can do His work our way, but it rarely produces fruit. When someone is ready, they will come. Not that we only teach people who are completely golden.. But when a person exercises their agency righteously to seek us out and truly seek the covenants and blessings attached that Heavenly Father has for us, that is when they are converted. His uncle will be baptizing him and he's just so excited... His fiancee... I mean wife... Is also becoming more and more active as he's making the journey towards Christ. With considerable faith and a touch of a miracle (praying for this one..) we'll be able to start teaching Tim's grandparents as well, as they are both non-members. They're 85 years old, they pay tithing to the church, watch conference, and they've even lately been asking us to give blessings in their home. Just yesterday after Tim's interview his grandma asked us if we would give Tim a blessing before his appointment with the cardiologist the following day. The first time we gave a blessing in their home, his grandpa told us "That was amazing. Sometimes you question your faith and wonder what's really true, you know?" Everyone got silent, and he quickly recovered and said "Uhh... He's testing me! That must be it. Seeing if I'll stay true." The Spirit is working on them. Hopefully at Tim's baptism there will be some crazy change of heart. That would be pretty cool!
We also had another yo-yo referral.. And by that I mean we showed up at the church to go to the restroom and the bishop called us over. It was mutual night, and he pointed to a kid playing basketball and said "Robbie wants to be baptized." The kid came over to us, introduced himself, and said he's been thinking about being baptized since he was 10 years old and he's almost 16. They were meeting with the missionaries down in Ogden before they moved to Richmond and he was going to be baptized there, but they moved and it didn't happen. So we set up an appointment with him, and when we showed up, we realized it was a new-move-in family we'd been trying to meet with for the past several weeks, not knowing that Robbie was even there. But when we got there, Robbie came to the door and was about to let us in, and a voice in the back said "I'll take care of it." His grandpa then came to the door and tried telling us that the Boy Scouts sent us and that the church is working with the scouting program to bring more 'recruits' into the church because 'we're running out of money' ... He then told us to do our missionary work, but not there. I hate Satan. We tried talking with him for 10 minutes, and he kept bringing up the strangest, most irrelevant political points that had convinced him that the church was merely a good business and had nothing to do with Jesus Christ. I bore my testimony to him, and he shot me down. It was so frustrating - there are people who are ready to be taught but they can't be. I hate it. We'll keep trying, but it kinda completely sucks. There's another family over in Lewiston who has been going to church actively for about 9 months now and there are 3 kids (17, 15, and 14) who are completely involved in the youth program who want to be baptized. Their mother actively attends church with them to and she wants their family to be sealed together. But - the dad, who is at the moment living in Wyoming and is stone cold less active, refuses to let them be baptized and won't give his consent. There's a lot of that in Utah.. I guess all we can do is just keep pressing on and hope that the work moves with us.
So! The fireside! Was pretty sweet as well. We sang "The Spirit of God" again and that was about the highlight.. Too bad we sang that one first. Everybody loved it, but I can't help but pick apart the things I knew could be better haha. Maybe I need to be more appreciative... :) There were a lot of very strong testimonies borne, and hopefully hearts were touched. I still miss being in choir. I never realized how musically involved I was... Band, jazz band, choir, all state, musical theater... It all adds up. I've taken up to trying to play the piano more often whenever the opportunity is presented. I'm still on the lookout for more music for Ryan, and I may have a few winners... Maybe for Christmas. :)
Mom - Thanks for your thoughts.. I hope that's the
reason I'm being transferred and not just because I'm being punished.
:) Finding people to teach is hard - especially because the only
reliable way to do it is to build trust with the people in the area and
show them that you're there to work.. But right when you get them to
the point where they trust you enough to give you referrals and they
start becoming solid and keeping commitments, they've swept me to
another area to let someone else enjoy the fruits of what I've done.
Which totally sucks. But I guess I'll have to keep drawing from
the fact that I know that I'll be sent where I need to go. That there
are lives for me to touch. Fingers crossed I'll stay nonetheless! I'm
glad to hear Evan is doing so well in the musical.. You're hosting the
whole cast at the house?? How? Oh fun fact - it snowed last Tuesday and
hasn't snowed since then.. When's it gonna snow in Iowa? I'm surprised
Evan hasn't given me a 14 day forecast lately... Ryan's sleep schedule
sounds like a mess. Is he still working at Faith Hope & Charity? He
has literally sent NO form of communication to me since like.. April. I
can't tell if he LIKES the music I'm sending or WHAT'S going on in that
kid's life right now. Punk! A year has gone by already? Not quite. Not
thinking about it. :)
Dad - Spanish branch! I've never been to one of those.. But when I was on exchanges with the Spanish missionaries I realized just how little Spanish I know! Well.. I could pick up on the general idea of what was going on, but no more than that. The funny thing about tracting with the Spanish missionaries is that it's almost no different than a normal day - except if a white person comes to the door then I talk to them and if a Hispanic person comes to the door I stand there and smile. :) Heidi got her patriarchal blessing on Sunday! I think she's pretty much graduated from the "less-active" category by now! Haha.. Hopefully Ryan will see the benefits of having that road map to the rest of his life and see beyond his circumstances right now. Evan getting his patriarchal blessing would be very cool. A member family a while ago told us about a boy from their last ward they lived in who had autism, but he wanted to get his patriarchal blessing. In the blessing, he was told that in the war in heaven, he was one of the spirits who personally escorted Lucifer out of the host of heaven. Special spirits indeed! Have you ever considered taking a trip back to Japan? I'd love to go back with you someday. Just to visit some of your old areas and branches, see if you remember anyone! Take me! I'm sure you've toyed with the idea.. That will have to be second on our "to-do" list when I get home, second to Zion's National Park's slot canyons, of course!
I love you all. Keep up your prayers, stay strong, and have a safe Halloween!
- Elder Tyler Grant :)
Dad - Spanish branch! I've never been to one of those.. But when I was on exchanges with the Spanish missionaries I realized just how little Spanish I know! Well.. I could pick up on the general idea of what was going on, but no more than that. The funny thing about tracting with the Spanish missionaries is that it's almost no different than a normal day - except if a white person comes to the door then I talk to them and if a Hispanic person comes to the door I stand there and smile. :) Heidi got her patriarchal blessing on Sunday! I think she's pretty much graduated from the "less-active" category by now! Haha.. Hopefully Ryan will see the benefits of having that road map to the rest of his life and see beyond his circumstances right now. Evan getting his patriarchal blessing would be very cool. A member family a while ago told us about a boy from their last ward they lived in who had autism, but he wanted to get his patriarchal blessing. In the blessing, he was told that in the war in heaven, he was one of the spirits who personally escorted Lucifer out of the host of heaven. Special spirits indeed! Have you ever considered taking a trip back to Japan? I'd love to go back with you someday. Just to visit some of your old areas and branches, see if you remember anyone! Take me! I'm sure you've toyed with the idea.. That will have to be second on our "to-do" list when I get home, second to Zion's National Park's slot canyons, of course!
I love you all. Keep up your prayers, stay strong, and have a safe Halloween!
- Elder Tyler Grant :)
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