march 19th, 2013

Heyyyyy again!

So.. I had another rude awakening this past week, and our MTC group
just hit our 16 month mark in the field on March 16th. Could I really
be 2/3rds of the way through already? That couldn't possibly be. The
time is just flying and the weeks get faster and faster. I'm really
not drawing on an infinite source of time anymore... I guess the
grains of sand in the hourglass truly are numbered. It's so crazy to
think this is my 12th transfer, 10th companion, and 5th area. But,
looking back and seeing what I've been able to see in myself so far
compared to where I was when I left the airport 3 hours late that
morning, I feel like a completely different person. Teaching people
has become so much easier - questions just pop into my head that seem
to take the lesson exactly where it needs to go. Speaking in church
isn't a task anymore; I can give a 20 minute talk with half a page of
notes and 4 scriptures. I can't take credit for anything that I am or
will be. All I have learned has been largely in part of the amazing
leaders and examples I've had to teach me and shoe me the way. I'm so
grateful for President Hiers - his genuine love for all of the
missionaries is astounding. I know he's steering the mission in the
way that God wants it to go.

We had interviews with the mission president last Friday, and it was a
really good experience for me as always. I talked to Sister Hiers for
a bit about my hospital escapades and she suggested that it may have
been swollen lymph nodes (Dad? True/False?) which created seemingly
appendicitis-esque symptoms. I also told her that I've felt the added
stress lately from a string of difficult companions.. And it dawned on
me that I've had a pattern so far. I have 1 strong transfer with a
strong companion, and then 5 transfers of either a socially awkward
companion or a disobedient companion. Then 1 transfer with a strong
companion, and then 5 more socially awkward or disobedient. Not that I
haven't enjoyed serving with them, but I realized that each of them
has had individual challenges and experiences that have helped me to
grow. I talked to the mission president about this current transfer
and my current companion... I told him all the companions I've had and
he agreed that I'd had some of the most difficult ones. He then told
me good companions are coming (fingers crossed...) and he's seen me
grow so much. And I appreciate the growth, but.. Is it too selfish of
me to ask for just ONE companion that I'm not already three steps back
because of social problems or disobedience? All I want for just ONCE
is to serve with someone who all I have to do is go out and fulfill my
purpose and they'll be right there beside me. I haven't had that in a
while... I know that my patience has been strengthened a lot and I can
take pretty much any companion at this point... But I DO want to enjoy
a companion every once in a while. :/ Gahh... I shouldn't complain.
The Lord has blessed me with so much. I've talked to our Zone Leaders
several times and they pointed out that I've had one of the most
difficult lineups of companions they've seen. And somehow I haven't
snapped... Yet. I'm still praying a ton and have been studying all of
the Christlike attributes to try and give myself a focus. Love,
charity, humility, patience, diligence... I think it's helping. I'm
just worried about our area is all. 
 It's getting better slowly as
we've had more opportunities to teach. The Zone Leaders came by last
night to talk  about humility and being teachable, and that was
an answer to a prayer. I think it's going to only get better from
here. At least, that's the plan!

The area is doing okay - like I may have said last week, we're
definitely in the finding stage again. We had a lesson on Saturday
with an all-nonmember family! Which is a rarity indeed... They're
incredibly good people and are very open and receptive. It was pretty
funny; the reason that we got in to teach them was because they have
an 11 year old son who is finishing his Webelos' requirements and he
has to earn the 'religious knot' , which requires him to learn about a
religion other than his own. So we went in and taught their family the
first lesson! It wasn't the full lesson, but we were able to leave a
family proclamation, a few pamphlets, and 2 Books of Mormon in their
home. They asked a lot of really good questions too. Their 17 year old
daughter seemed the most intrigued, and she said she was going to
start reading the Book of Mormon. So at the very least, there were
some seeds planted! We taught another part member family for the first
time last night and had a really good first discussion with them. We
also got a referral for another part member family out in Howell, and
actually, I think this story deserves a paragraph of its own!

So we get a call from another set of missionaries on Friday. They were
at the auto shop getting their car repaired and someone comes up to
them and says they have a friend out in Howell who goes to church and
wants to get baptized. They gave us the phone number for the
non-member lady, and we felt it would be a good idea to call the Ward
Mission Leader and ask who they were and if they were working with
them before we went in guns a-blazing. He said "Oh I forgot about
them! Yeah she's been coming to church... I'll go talk to them
tomorrow and get a lesson set up!" Perfect, so we thought! We ran into
those same missionaries a few days later and they told us they had
accidentally called the lady and hung up immediately, but she called
back 3 times within 5 minutes.. A very clear sign that she was waiting
on the missionaries to call! And the guy who gave them the referral
said "Yeah, apparently the missionaries called but hung up... She
tried to get a hold of them but couldn't." Blast! So we called her..
And she picked up the phone. I told her it was the missionaries, and
she seemed temporarily really excited. And then she said "Hey.
Actually, my nephew just died yesterday in a car crash, and we're at
the crash site right now... Can I call you tomorrow?" *facepalm* Count
that as my submission for "Worst Ever Time to Contact Someone to See
if they Want to Get Baptized." I'm sure it'll win the contest...
Hopefully she calls us today! If not, then.. Well, dang it.

The work is going pretty well overall. We're still looking for people
to teach. The people we are teaching are progressing, albeit slowly.
But we've had a few really good contacts in the last week and things
are looking up. I don't know how much longer I'm going to be in
Garland, but it's looking to be about the same as all my other areas.
Come into the area with minimal work, baptize a few, and leave the
area stronger than I got here. Again, that's only if all goes
according to plan! :)

Mom - Thank you for your prayers. Know that they are being felt. This
past week has been better. It hasn't been smooth sailing, but not
every single day is dragging by. President Hiers sent you another
letter about leadership? Hmm.. He sent me one too. But yours sounds a
lot more uplifting.. Haha. 

 Jaidan and all his family minus dad made it to church last week. Oh! Fun
surprise - I was privileged to be able to give Jaidan the Aaronic
Priesthood last Wednesday and ordain him to be a deacon. So that was
pretty awesome! I've never done a priesthood ordination before. 

And I
have heard several people talking about Grant's mission call prank,
actually. The first time someone brought it up, I was like "There's no
way it's the same video..." But I guess it totally is. Kudos, Grant!
I'm still praying for Ryan - I'm glad he's come so far. Maybe I should
write him another letter... 

Dad - Shiver me timbers! So you're still pulling double duty as High
Councilor and Stake Young Men's President, huh? BEAST. I've told
people that around here and they can't even fathom having two
callings. I guess they've never been in a world where there's not
always enough members to fill every slot! That's really sad about the
girl from Vermillion... What was her name? I wonder if I knew her.
Those are some super old ER submissions. We actually spoke in an 'old
folks home' sacrament on Sunday, and there were so many people
sleeping it was incredible. The most chipper people there were a 99
year old man and his 96 year old wife - 70+ years of marriage! The
district is pretty good - it was just a lot of change all at once. I'm
still working with getting along with my companion, and actually I
think he's oblivious to any challenges he feels we're having. Which is
either a character flaw on his part or, more likely, I've just gotten
really good at hiding my irritation. Which may be a really good life
skill to have... It's also really good to talk about things, and I've
been trying. Like I said earlier - polishing is a slow process! I
guess "Gahh" is a Tyler word. I don't know how that one started.

Okay then.. I love you guys. Thanks for praying for me and for
supporting me for the past 16 months. I know that the Lord is watching
over us and I'm reminded almost every day that we're not in this work
alone. Here's to the future!

- Elder Tyler Grant

March 5th, 2013

So seeing as this transfer was only 5 weeks, it has already rapidly
come to a close... And I got a call from President Hiers last night
again. I'm going to be staying in Garland, but I'm going to be
training another new missionary! I'm actually pretty excited. District
Leader/Trainer is about as high as the responsibilities get so this'll
be a test of my stress levels and work ethic. I'm also nervous because
this time around will probably be an ACTUAL brand new missionary, not
one who served a trial mission first... Maybe it'll even be one of the
new 18 year olds! Haha.. I'll report next week. Elder Sherman is being
transferred south to Clinton. I'm really going to miss him. He's been
one of my favorite companions that I've had. We've gotten along really
well and have seen a lot of success in the work we've done in Garland.
He's going to become a senior companion (finally!) so I wish him the
best. He was worried because the assistants and zone leaders were
talking as if he was going to go serve with the APs for a transfer to
give him a boost. So he was stressing a lot about that... I think his
new assignment will be good for him. Like I said, I'm really excited
to train and hope that I can help this new missionary to become all
that he needs to be. Our zone is getting changed up a LOT - We're
getting Elder LaFond as our Zone Leader though! I don't know if you
remember him.. He was in my MTC district and was there for me when my
companion was an idiot.. Hahaha. So it's all looking up!

So yesterday we had a baptism, as you may have noted by the pictures.
Happy birthday, Mom! Have a baptism! :) The kid's name is Jaidan
 and we've been meeting with his family ever since I got
here. His mom isn't a member and she's been coming to church very
regularly for the past 6 months. Her boyfriend is a member, and
they've been working towards getting married, but there's been a lot
of fear. Jaidan decided to get baptized after he felt the Spirit so
strongly at the musical fireside. That's the amazing thing about the
whole situation. We've been teaching his family and he's sat in on and
off, but we've never pressured him and neither have his parents. He's
been praying and reading the scriptures on his own, and never felt
like he received his full answer. And when he recognized it for
himself, he came to us! But that's not even the end of the story.. On
Sunday he had his baptismal interview, and while he was being
interviewed I asked his mom the interview questions to see where she
was at in terms of preparedness. She's COMPLETELY ready for baptism, I
was blown away! She's wanted to get baptized for a long time now and
hasn't been able to since they've been trying to sort out the whole
"get married" thing... We left briefly to go get Jaidan his white
jumpsuit, and when we came back she and her boyfriend were all smiles.
RJ, the boyfriend, said "We were just talking, and we've decided that
we're going to get married. I'm ready - I'm tired of holding my family
back." They're going to go to the courthouse on Wednesday and get
their marriage licenses, and talk to the Bishop to plan their wedding
within the next few weeks! I am SO excited for them! They've come
unbelievably far in the past 5 weeks since I've been able to teach
them. They've been on super rocky ground and have been wondering if
it's going to work out for them... And Jaidan's decision to be
baptized has really just launched them to a new level. We helped them
move into a new house on Friday and Saturday so they've just been able
to start fresh in every aspect of their lives. Jaidan's baptism was
awesome. Both of his parents gave talks and Elder Sherman got to
baptize him. And now within the next few weeks Jaidan's mom will be
baptized too. On Wednesday he'll get interviewed to get the Aaronic
priesthood and he'll be able to bring it into their home. There's some
incredible things happening around here right now, and it's beyond
apparent that God's hand is in it. There are so many miracles that are
popping up everywhere.. Hopefully my new greenie will stay afloat. :)

I love it here in Garland. As questionable as I felt coming back here,
I can tell that this is where I'm supposed to be. I had a family we're
teaching tell me that they felt that I was "tailor-made" for their
family. Being a missionary is incredible.

Mom - I miss rain! And freezing rain I guess... But mostly rain! I
hope you had a great birthday. I can't believe how "over it" I am
about missing both Breaking Dawn movies. Oh yeah.. I can totally
believe it. I guess I missed the Academy Awards too. Someone was
telling us about the movies that won and were nominated and I realized
I hadn't heard of any of them. Far out. The mission office is selling
recordings of the musical fireside for 50 cents.. Should I get one? :)
Haha I'll pick up an order form tomorrow when I go to get my greenie.
I am feeling 100% again. It just bugs me that the hospital wasn't able
to give me even the slightest clue as to what was wrong. Doesn't that
bug you a little bit? I still can't believe Ryan is graduating!

Dad - Thanks for the catch-up diagnosis. FINALLY someone tells me what
happened. And no I wasn't particularly gassy that day. The talks on
baptism and the Holy Ghost isn't necessarily set in stone. Check the
guidelines in Preach My Gospel. It says "two gospel topics" ... :)
Baptisms are much more spiritual when they're brief-er. We're still
working with the twins parents and their older brother. I love
singing- the firesides have been a lot of fun to participate in and I
guess now I've seen fruits from them. I've been playing the piano a
lot more lately too. Playing at Jaidan's baptism was a way cool
experience. I expect I'm gonna love the new piano for sure. There are
a lot of foreign missionaries in our mission - I wonder if I"m gonna
get to train a missionary from another country? I still find it funny
that President Moriyama remembers you as the only missionary he had
from Nova Scotia. And I don't know if I deserve the praise of being an
"awesome" missionary yet. I'll let you know if I ever get that
feeling. I'm trying though. :) You may have beat Evan in pinball, but
you will never beat my Geometry Wars score. I really hope President
Faldmo is still the Stake President when I get back.

Anyways. Sorry for the short letter. Sherman has 6 months of people to
say goodbye to and I've gotta do laundry... Love you guys! I'll report
on my new greenie next week! :)

- Elder Tyler Grant

February 26th, 2013

Yeah I can't hide anything from you guys anymore... I guess you've
already been informed about EVERYTHING that's happened! :) Haha.. But
I'll report anyway.

So last Tuesday evening my stomach started cramping a little bit, but
I didn't think anything of it.. I popped a couple of Tums and then
went to bed. Didn't sleep too well.. Got up the next morning and went
to the gym. I still had the same pain, but it was minor at best so I
still paid very little attention to it. Then went to district meeting
and I gave the training I had prepared. It all went really well and
it's getting easier every time. After lunch the pain had worsened, and
it didn't even seem like it was coming from my stomach, it seemed like
my intestines were twisting inside me. I opted to try and rest up a
little bit in the afternoon but the pain got worse so I wasn't even
able to sleep. The strangest part was that I had the pain but I didn't
feel sick at all - it wasn't the same feeling as having the flu. In
fact I had thought about throwing up to make my stomach feel better
but I couldn't. We went to our dinner appointment but I was the
farthest thing from hungry, and the sharp pain continued. I called up
the mission doctor and described my symptoms. He then gave me
basically an ultimatum. "Take some Pepto Bismol. If the pain subsides
then it was a stomach irritation and you'll be fine. If not, go to the
hospital because it's probably your appendix." Hey thanks for the
cheery news! We went to the Gibbs' because we didn't have Pepto
Bismol.. They're so awesome. I love them so much - it amazes me how
much love they show to me and my companion even though we're basically
total strangers. Elder Sherman took their son to our next appointment
so that I could lay down and try and recover. However over the next 30
minutes the pain only got worse and worse, and I started
hyperventilating.. And THEN I threw up. But that didn't make me feel
better at all. Actually when I threw up my hands went completely numb
and I couldn't move them. So we made the executive decision to go to
the hospital.. And since it was 8:30 at night all that was open was
the ER. They started to run tests and I had to go throw up again.. The
pain got worse and worse and I started to get really tired. They drew
my blood and when they were about to put an IV in I started dry
heaving - and the IV slipped out and blood kind of went everywhere..
Which didn't help. This was the scariest part - immediately after that
my arms went completely numb and my arms locked up. I couldn't move my
hands, wrists, or elbows. My hands were completely locked up in a fist
and I couldn't open them. That was some of the worst pain I could
remember.. It went on for like 10 minutes and I was completely
helpless. My face went numb and I couldn't speak. My stomach went
numb.. After a while my arms started to gain feeling again and the
pain went away. They gave me an IV and took me to get an ultrasound to
check my appendix, gall bladder, and liver. I was feeling considerably
better by this point - I started trying to make light of the situation
to keep myself from panicking, and the pain was still fading. They did
x-rays.. Blood tests.. And I laid there for a while in the hospital
bed. They prescribed me some pills, and sent me off with no diagnosis!
That's the weirdest part. They didn't give me a conclusive answer as
to what happened. They said "possible gastritis." How strange is that?
The cool part of the story is that when I was having my huge muscle
spasm, Elder Sherman texted like 3 people telling them to offer a
prayer for me because I was in the ER and no one knew what was wrong.
And somehow that text made it's way around the entire mission.
Actually I know how... Remember Elder Bengtson, the missionary I
trained? He got the message from Sherman and then forwarded it to
literally every other set of missionaries in the mission. It was a
miracle in that regard. Even though people didn't know necessarily who
I was, they prayed for me. I got text messages for the next few days
from missionaries that I barely knew asking me how I was feeling. It
was a really cool feeling. I'm doing much better now. No complications
since I left. Our zone leaders and a few missionaries in the zone came
and stayed with me the whole time I was in the ER, and Sister Gibbs
stayed the whole time. She's an amazing lady. You should definitely
get into her friend circle. :)

After that day I wasn't able to slow down... Or take a break at all
for that matter. On Thursday we had District Leader Training, followed
by exchanges with our Zone Leaders, two baptismal interviews, and
three lessons. It was an arduous day. But it just goes to show that
the work of God stops for no one! Hahaha.. On Friday we had our last
rehearsal for the musical fireside, and it came together pretty well.
Sunday night was the actual day of the fireside.. And it was SUCH a
cool experience. The music was amazing and they invited all of the
missionaries from foreign countries to share their conversion story
and then their testimony in their native language. Testimonies were
borne in Arabic, Hungarian, French, Spanish, Madagasi, Samoan, Tongan,
and Tagalog. I have the recordings of the songs we performed all on my
camera. "Nearer My God to Thee" was incredible - obviously the
recording doesn't do it justice. After the fireside we got a text
message from one of our investigators sons. They came to the fireside
- they've been coming to church for a while now and their teenage son
has been considering getting baptized but has never demonstrated the
faith and acted on it. He texted us saying "I felt really good at the
fireside. How do I get baptized?" THAT'S what the firesides are for!
He'll hopefully be getting baptized within the next week.

Other than that... Things are going well. We're trying to work with a
lot of families still who are incredibly busy... Unavoidable. We had a
leadership conference yesterday down in Ogden for the DLs and ZLs. It
was a really good conference - they basically told us that we don't
need to always be looking for new trainings or quick-fix solutions
that will solve the mission problems or make it easier to get
baptisms. That isn't what the mission president, assistants, zone
leaders, and everyone else are for. We aren't trying to create
band-aid solutions that will boost numbers. We are trying to pattern
ourselves after Jesus Christ. Preach My Gospel and the scriptures are
our tools. All of our investigators needs are met by coming unto Jesus
Christ and repenting, accessing the Atonement for themselves. People
have been asking for ways to help overcome their investigators
concerns or ways to get investigators to say yes.. That isn't our
purpose. Our purpose is to help them understand how they are going to
realize the blessings that Heavenly Father already has in store for
them. Did you know that being a missionary is awesome? Haha..

Oh yeah! And we had a baptism on Saturday. The 8 year old twins we
were teaching got baptized and the program was very.. Interesting!
Their older brother, who isn't a member, gave the opening prayer.. One
thing he said was "Please bless that during the baptism Jenna and
Gunnar won't freak out." Hahaha. The two talks were given by their
nonmember parents. And while they didn't close by saying "in the name
of Jesus Christ, amen," they told them both how proud of them they
were by acting on what they felt was right. The dad was choking up
quite a bit.. He's TOTALLY gonna come around! The twins bore their
simple testimonies afterwards, and I think Gunnar said something along
the lines of "The water is really warm if anyone else wants to get
baptized." Actually, when they were getting interviewed on Friday we
got a chance to talk to their 13 year old brother. They also have an
11 year old sister who just got baptized back in October. The older
brother has never really said anything to us, and whenever we've tried
to talk to him we've gotten nowhere. This time, he seemed touched..
And he said "You know, when my older sister got baptized God told me
in my heart that I needed to be baptized too. So I think I want to go
for it." He's been going to church with the whole family already too!
Miracles are everywhere right now.

Mom - I hope you thoroughly enjoy my unabridged account of my hospital
experience haha.. Even though you've already been filled in. Your
baptismal interview tale was hilarious! I don't exactly know how I
would react to that.. It's pretty crazy to think that now you've been
a member for nearly 25 years AND Nanny has joined the church too! I
wish I could have been there for Evan's talk. That sounds absolutely
hysterical - hopefully the missionaries had some forgiving
investigators at church! :) But hey... It's Evan. We can't apologize
for him haha. Glad my box made it home safe and sound. That cost like
30 bucks! Ridiculous! We've had spotty snow for a while now.. It's
getting to the point where I'm hoping it's gonna stop soon. But it's
fun to throw snowballs either way. I also hope that Evan enjoys golf -
provided that he can commit to going to the practices of course! He'll
like it, I know I did.

Dad - I won't get a swelled head... Only swelled by all this Utah food
I'm eating. I just weighed myself and I'm sitting at about 137 pounds
right now. Yay.. Maybe I haven't swelled as much as I thought. I've
also done as much as I can with our investigators to ensure that
they're committed to living the Gospel and will be supported when they
do. The trouble with baptizing youth is that if they don't have a
support system then they're destined to go immediately inactive. So we
work very closely with the bishops to ensure that there is a plan to
keep our converts active. Glad that we've had stud missionaries in
Storm Lake for a while now - the area needs it! I'm also pumped to
hear about the pinball machine. Does it get a lot of use? Mom probably
secretly plays it all day while everyone's gone...

I love you guys. I'm off to the rest of P-day ... Have a wonderful day!

- Elder Tyler Grant


 

February 19th, 2013

Hey!

You know.. I've been thinking lots in the past week about some things
in regards to a training we were given. The ZLs pointed out that in
the zone, the amount of lessons with a member present has gone down,
and were questioning why. The easy response is to say that the members
in our area are lazy and don't make the effort to help us fellowship
people. Which could be entirely true. Then they related it to a talk
given by M. Russell Ballard called Create Success. One part that stuck
out to me:

 "Ability means nothing to a missionary if it is not used. The
greatest men came to the top because of the strength that grew out of
meeting resistance. Self-deceptions are responsible for more then
three-fourths of all the so-called “unexplained failures” in the
mission field. Many missionaries in the race for success explain their
shortcomings as they do in the game of bowling. If they fail to win,
something was wrong with the alley, the pins, their arms, their
members, their companions, their areas, etc. etc. The trouble is never
themselves. Of all the distinguished failures, those who deserve the
least sympathy are the ones who gather in foolish little cliques,
praise each other, deceive each other, criticize others, and fool
themselves. They say, “I am not appreciated.” “I have had bad luck all
my mission. Others have had a better chance.” “I wish I could have the

fortune of Elder ‘success.’” A fireball missionary starts when an
investigator says “no!” This is a plain and simple concept but very
true."

 The reason we go to serve missions is not so that things will fall
into place for the area and for the members in it. It is not to expect
people to bring us referrals - if that was the case then missionaries
would hardly be necessary. Our success is not measured by the amount
of baptisms that we have, but the amount of seeds we plant, the
strengthening of the members in the area, and the motivation and
commitment to do the Lord's will. President Hiers has said that at the
end of our mission he will not ask us how many baptisms we had or how
many lessons we taught. What he will ask is "Have you given your all
to Christ?" There is so much I can do to improve. I'm here to serve a
full-time mission. I've learned so much about myself and about my
relationship with my Heavenly Father. But I know that I've only taken
a few footsteps on the path that will last my entire life. We are to
serve with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength. I've just felt
in the last week that there are little shifts that I can make to bring
the Spirit more into my life and into my decisions. We are doing God's
work and we are entitled to His help. The work here is going well and
we're teaching a lot of people. I know that all the tools and
trainings that we've been given are there to be a skeleton from which
we can prayerfully study and apply to our own missions and
investigators. I've been trying to take a harder look at Preach My
Gospel as of late too. I studied PMG very heavily at the beginning of
my mission, mostly because I was scrambling to learn and soak in as
much as I could. As soon as I could comfortably teach all of the
lessons PMG kind of slipped to the back burner in my personal study,
shifting more to talks and a heavier more in-depth study of the Book
of Mormon. I've just felt that if I'm not using all the tools that
I've been given then there are skills and opportunities that I could
be missing that would detrimentally affect our investigators. Am I
truly digging into the doctrine of each lesson to seek out and prepare
a lesson specifically for them? Or am I drifting towards a rote
presentation depending on their input and questions to steer it in the
direction they'll need? I need to be more proactive instead of just
reactive. Personal study is awesome and I feel like I get a lot out of
it when I continue to ready the Book of Mormon. But I'm not here to
study for me. I have the rest of my life to do that. I need to be
pushing myself to give all I have to the people we're teaching and
constantly try and find more. Maybe I'm being a little self-critical..
But it's about time I don't just "get over" something, right? :)

We'll be having two baptisms this Saturday... That is, the extremely
hyperactive ADHD twins with an attention span of 10 minutes or less.
We're still working on the parents. As for Dad's question I haven't
really delved too much into their Pagan and Wiccan beliefs to know
just how familiar they are with their own faiths. I've met people who
just throw out "Oh I'm Wiccan" as soon as they see us to basically be
a stronger argument than "Oh I'm Catholic." Wiccan sounds scarier...
They're still very supportive and we saw them all at church again this
week. Let us hope that the Spirit just keeps chip-chip-chipping away
at them until it finally delivers the killing blow. Maybe that was
harsh terminology. The bottom line is they'll come around if they keep
it up. There's a few other families that have been popping up lately
who we're trying to follow up with. So it's still picking up - we're
teaching a lot of mixed families who are waiting on divorces so they
can get married. I've never had to juggle so many custody issues in my
life. It's hard to plan lessons with a lot of them because some kids
are there every other weekend, some just during the week, PLUS when
you factor in parents' work schedules... It's a nightmare.

Mom - Restrain me from poking fun at the fact that that took you an
hour to type.. :) Haha! You'll get there eventually. Its still weird
to think Evan is finishing his freshman year in a few short months as
well as Ryan is graduating. Don't let brother Mills swoop in and steal
your calling! Considering the Book of Mormon was the only REAL year of
seminary that I had I know it's an awesome year. And no you never did
tell me about when you were interviewed for baptism. Was it a
disaster? And the fact that they have to be clean for a week isn't
just so they can skip a week and then go back... A week is generally
accepted to be the minimal amount of time to act in faith and be able
to show Heavenly Father they are able to live without their addiction.
That lady I interviewed and had to say no to I got to interview her
again and she got baptized on Friday. I'll see if I can get someone to
video the musical fireside. I will be singing, actually! I have a solo
in one of the songs and we'll be singing the a Capella version of
"Nearer My God to Thee" done by Vocal Point. (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9UsDl5gSuo ) It's gonna be awesome.

Dad - Trial by fire would be a good way to describe a failed
interview. It was super hard - but it felt like the right thing to do.
And the lady told the sisters that she feels stronger than she was
before and she didn't realize how much she depended on coffee to
function. So it worked out in the end. What was it like being the
branch president and dealing with missionaries in branch council? I
just realized that you've seen the other side of it - I just never
associated with the missionaries in our area at all. By the way - the
trend of high maintenance sisters is definitely not coming to a close
anytime soon. There are supposed to be 15 missionaries coming into the
mission next transfer... And 12 of them are sisters. God help us all.
We're supposed to get like 19 or 20 the transfer after that too.
AAAAAAHHHH!!! : # <--- Whatever this means... I guess you're probably
right in talking about the symbolism of the two trees between the
Garden of Eden and Lehi's Dream. The beauty of symbolism is that it
can be interpreted differently to apply to different situations - so I
shall not refute your discovery at this time.

I love you guys! I sent the package with all the things in it last
week. Enjoy your pictures. Have an awesome week! :)

- Elder Tyler Grant

February 12th, 2013

Well it's been an eventful week for sure in Garland. I guess I can
start with a story...

So Dad's letter talked about district leader responsibilities, and
specifically interviews. I had my first chance to interview someone
last Wednesday. It was a lady in her 60's and she was super excited to
meet with me. The baptism was planned and scheduled, and the program
was in the process of being made. As I interviewed her she told me for
the past week her feet haven't touched the ground because she wanted
to be baptized so badly. It was abundantly clear that she had a
testimony - I could just feel it radiating from her. And everything
was fine.. Until I asked her about the Word of Wisdom. She agreed with
all the principles, and there was only one little problem. She had had
half a cup of coffee the day before. She told me she didn't need
coffee... She just enjoyed it and said it wasn't going to be a problem
after she was baptized. My heart sank. I knew that I couldn't pass
her... In every category she was ready and she was fired up - but that
one little thing didn't sit right. I called up the Zone Leaders to
make sure and they concurred with me - her baptism would have to be
postponed for a week. The church's guidelines specifically say that
the individual must be free from any Word of Wisdom issues for a full
week before their baptism. That was one of the hardest things I've
ever had to say. I walked back into the church after my call to the
ZLs and this lady was just smiling from ear to ear. And I had to tell
her that she was ALMOST there.. Her testimony was there and her desire
was strong, but she wouldn't be able to fully appreciate the blessings
of baptism or the Spirit of that day until she had fully conquered her
minor addiction. The hardest part was seeing the look in her eyes. She
looked completely crushed. When she left I was unsure what her
thoughts were.. But the missionaries who were teaching her told me a
few days later. She told them she didn't realize how much she wanted
coffee until it came between her and her relationship with God. She
told them that she would never have even a sip of coffee again.
Without that experience she may have never understood the importance
of obeying all the commandments we're given. She's getting baptized
this week instead. It was quite the way to jump into the district
leader shoes... Like you, Dad, there are several missionaries I've
talked to who have never had to 'fail' someone. And I had to fail my
very first one...

But! On the bright side, the very next day I got to interview another
person! She was a lady in her late 20s who was actually one of the
people we were trying to teach when I was in Tremonton the first time!
Hahaha.. Anyway. I went into this interview apprehensively, because I
now understood the seriousness and weight of determining whether or
not someone was ready to be baptized. As I asked her questions she
showed a firm understanding of the principles that she'd been taught.
Her husband had been less active but recently returned to activity and
he was going to be the one to baptize her. The one thing as I walked
into their home that she, her husband, AND the missionaries who taught
her told me was that no matter HOW hard I tried, I would never get her
to pray out loud. Challenge accepted! At the conclusion of the
interview I bore testimony to her that she was in fact ready to make
this step and that there were countless blessings in store for her and
her family. I invited her to pray, and she laughed and said that she'd
never even prayed in front of her husband, who she's been married to
for like 8 years. I then said that it wasn't me who was inviting her
to pray, but as a representative of Christ it was Jesus Christ
inviting her to. Her life was about to change when she got baptized,
and I told her that her Heavenly Father was just pleading and waiting
to hear her. She paused and we sat in silence for a good 30 seconds
while I had a silent prayer in my heart. She looked up at me and said
"... Okay! I'll do it. But it's not going to be very good!" She then
bowed her head and offered one of the most sincere, heartfelt prayers
that I had ever heard. No repetitions, no fancy language... But I
could just feel her desire as the Spirit came into the room. As she
closed the prayer she looked up and smiled, then rushed to tell her
husband. It was amazing - maybe there ARE some perks after all to
being a district leader. Both the experiences in the past week have
been testimony builders to me as well as for the people I had to
interview. The missionaries who taught her were shocked that she
actually prayed - maybe a bit resentful because she wouldn't pray in
front of them.. How cool is that? :)

The area is going pretty well. We're still trying to find names of
people to teach. But we're picking them up more and more. In the past
4 days we've handed out like, 200 invitations to the next musical
fireside in Logan. We dropped off an entire stack of invitations at
the seminary building and put the teachers on assignment to have their
students hand them out to their friends. AND while we were at the
seminary building a girl walked up to us and said she had a nonmember
friend who wanted to learn more about the church. We're going to be
teaching her tonight! The most solid people we have right now are
actually 8 years old.. They're a set of twins who's parents are
nonmembers, and because of that even though they're 8 it falls to us
as missionaries. They had an older sister get baptized a couple months
ago and they've been going to church with her for 6 months now. The
coolest part of the story is that both parents, even though they're
not members of the church (one is pagan and one is wicken, so they
say..), have been going to church WITH their kids to be supportive.
Their dad told us that when he chose to join a church as a kid his
parents weren't supportive of him, so he's resolved to be supportive
of whatever faith his kids decide on. He's been sitting in on all of
the lessons and asks really good questions. He wants to be able to
understand what his children believe so that he can hold them
accountable to things after they commit to it. He's a really good man
- he'll come around eventually. We're teaching several youth with
stubborn parents who have hardened their hearts against the church...
With a few of them our biggest goal is just to try and re-invite the
Spirit back into their home. The missionary work here is going pretty
well overall though. It's good to be back! I like Elder Sherman. He
has his struggles, but we all do. We're getting along pretty well. The
biggest challenge is to keep him focused and obedient. Which is hard
to do without being overbearing... But I think little by little the
Spirit will work on him. He's a really good guy - it's refreshing to
be with a companion that I don't have to work hard to try and get
along with. I've had a few of those in the past!

Mom - Is it really that close to Valentine's day? I guess that would
explain why everyone is filling their houses with all that pink and
red stuff. Do you think you'll still be a Seminary teacher for year
number 4? That'd be pretty awesome to be able to "complete the
circuit" so to speak. I didn't even think about the fact that Evan is
eligible for seminary now. Crazy! AND that Ryan's about to graduate.
Sheesh - where have I been? And we have a car... Our area is so
massive. It's (once again) one of the largest areas in the mission.
But most of it is just empty... Haha I don't know if Sister White is
jealous. We haven't been able to spend a lot of time just visiting
families I already know - we've been spending most of our time trying
to set up lessons and finding referrals. The only reason we've spent
more time at the Gibbs' is because our dryer in our apartment is
broken right now and it just got picked up to be repaired yesterday.
So we come and do e-mails and laundry at their home. And they pick up
dinners for us when they fall through. Aren't they awesome? :) You're
gonna have a lot of new friends in Utah by the time I come home..
Hahaha. Matt AND Jacob are doing mission papers? That's so crazy. I'm
way pumped for both of them. I didn't burn a shirt.. I did that a
while back when I hit my yearmark. I got all my pictures burned onto a
CD and today is the day we're going to the post office. Expect a
package soon! And the only General Authorities I've heard speak are
Elder Christofferson and Elder Nelson in the MTC ... And Elder
Yamashita and Elder Falabella. Other than that no one else. I expected
more! And if Ellie did indeed send me anything it still hasn't come
yet. Maybe she still has the wrong address. :)

Dad - I guess the interviewing portion of the DL life has already hit
me in full force. It's helped me a lot though. The bottom line is if
they're worthy and they have a testimony then they're qualified. Just
because they don't know absolutely everything about the Gospel doesn't
mean that they're not ready. I think that's a lot of peoples'
mentalities with saying "they're not ready!" After they're baptized it
falls upon the ward and fellowships to keep them coming. And there's
only so much we can do as missionaries at that point... High Council
AND Stake Young Men's? I guess you'll never be bored! We still try and
attend the temple once a month, but our mission president has reminded
us that our primary focus is missionary work on this side of the veil.
I think Bane is from Batman, right? I haven't heard much because I
won't let anyone tell me about it. The sisters are most certainly high
maintenance... One time this week one of the sisters texted saying she
had opened her scriptures looking for guidance and sent a 4 page rant
saying the scripture she saw first said she was becoming wicked and
hard in her heart, and indulging in evil practices. My advice to her:
"Sometimes God speaks to us through the scriptures... And sometimes
the pages get stuck together." And just last night one of the sisters
called saying that we needed to drive to their area right that instant
and straighten up one of their investigators because they wanted to
wait a month to get baptized. Who knows what's gonna happen once the
19 year old sisters start coming...

I love you all! I made a long e-mail this week just for you guys. Keep
praying, and know that I love it here!

- Elder Tyler Grant

February 5th, 2013

Hello!

It's already almost been a week here, and it's still super strange to
be back! I haven't visited a ton of people from when I was here last
time, we just drove by the White's just in time for a snowball fight..
Other than that we're trying to stay busy and focused on the work in
the Garland Stake. Luckily, we're back to 8 wards again! A very
gracious change from the 25 wards we just had in Richmond. There's
not... a TON of work going on right now. But it's better than what
I've been transferred into in the past. Once again I didn't get
transferred into any investigators who are getting baptized right off
the bat. But hey - that would be too easy. :) There are a lot of
less-actives in the area and that means there's a LOT of reactivation
to do. And along with the reactivation there's a lot of youth who
haven't been baptized because their parents have been inactive. The
leadership is pretty good around here. We're gonna have to fire them
up a little bit more to get them to keep up with the leaders in
Richmond, but that will come with time.

My companion's name is Elder Sherman and he too is from California.
That's my 3rd one from California! I haven't had a single companion
from outside of the United States yet. Arizona, California, Texas,
Maryland, Tennessee, Arizona, Nevada, California, and California. Not
a ton of variety. :) Elder Sherman has been out for almost 11 months
now and he actually TEACHES! What a relief! I went on exchanges with a
missionary in Smithfield before I got transferred out of Richmond and
he told me it was pretty obvious that I'd been carrying 95% of the
weight of teaching for the last 3 transfers. So to come into an area
where my companion knows everyone and has a good relationship with the
leaders and investigators is super nice. We're still digging to find
work. But it will come with time - I'm really excited to be serving
here even though it's pretty weird. We actually don't live in the
Garland Stake - we live LITERALLY right across the street from the
Tremonton South Stake boundaries.

So! I had to give my first district meeting yesterday! It was pretty
intimidating - I never thought I'd see the day where I'd be standing
in the shoes of the leaders when I came into the mission. I had to
prepare a training for my district, and obviously it didn't go 100%
smooth because it was the first run through. I'll get better at it -
I've never had a problem just getting up in front of people and
talking. I'll just have to be sure to be prayerful in considering the
needs of the missionaries in the district. I'm the district leader for
3 Spanish elders and 2 English sisters. So it's a relatively small
district. Our zone leaders are pretty awesome. One is from Alberta and
one is from England. Both of them have been out in the field less time
than I have, so they're both pretty rock solid. I'm also running out
of things to say.. I'm distracted. Like always. :)

Last night we got together as a zone at a members home in our area and
had a huge communal shirt burning! 3 people in the zone hit their year
marks and burned shirts and 2 of them hit 6 months so they burned
ties. I don't know why missionaries do that..It just happens! I think
Dad already mentioned that he never did that while he was on his
mission. Probably because it would take too long to send replacement
shirts all the way to Japan. I also got all my pictures burned onto
CDs so I'll be sending them off in the next few weeks. I got those
hymnbooks a while back. I have too many non-white shirts and stuff now
so I've just gotta ship off a box your way. It was almost too much
work to pack. I've been pretty good at not being a pack rat with
collecting worthless things. :)

Mom - All the way to Romans, huh? Does this mean you're not like 4
months behind this year? :) Thanks for the quote. I'll have to save
that one.. I can't believe Sister White already sent you pictures.
She's too diligent! I gotta watch what I do around here or I'm gonna
get tattled on.. Hahaha. Heidi is about 35 minutes away over the
mountain in Richmond. I'm not worried about her - she'll stay strong.
Your list of my areas is correct! I've been in nothing but small towns
except for the 3 months in Mount Lewis - and that was when I got
transferred into 1 investigator and no other work. Pretty irregular
actually. Most missionaries spend more time in the city. I guess
they've figured out that this is what I'm good at! Is the Storm Lake
Branch still huge? I'm also impressed about Evan's praise of the Book
of Mormon! He must really be taking this seriously. My scriptures are
almost marked to death! It's almost hard to use any other scriptures
since I know mine so well.

Dad - You were pretty spot on on the callings of a district leader. We
have to give a once a week training to the district, get trained by
the ZLs once a week, collect and report numbers to the ZLs, go on
splits occasionally with the Elders in the district as well as the
ZLs, and then I'm responsible for interviewing baptismal candidates
and determining if they're ready. So that's probably the part that
scares me the most. I'm still just a normal missionary, I just have
more responsibilities and more opportunities to serve. I really like
that interpretation of D&C 4 vs Moses 1:39. It just goes to show that
our interpretation and understanding of the scriptures continues to
grow the more we read and study them. Maybe I'll use that in my next
district meeting! The missionaries in the district are pretty awesome
- the sisters might be a little high maintenance but I'll manage. The
3 Spanish Elders are all hilarious - one is from Atlanta, one from
Mexico, and one from Panama. So there's a huge mix of personalities
and cultures. Best of luck on the temple-every-month goal!

I love you all. Sorry this letter's a bit short. I'll write more this
next week - we've set up a lot of lessons and have a lot in the
upcoming days. I love it here - thanks for your support!

- Elder Tyler Grant

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