July 2nd, 2013

Hey again!

Sorry if last weeks letter was brief-er than normal. I looked through it and I was surprised at how much I threw together in the 25 minutes we were at the computers. Go, mighty brain, go! It was awesome to visit Star Valley.. And it was kind of a long and exhausting P-Day all in all. Especially because we only took one car up and the other two wanted to go visit people in the other Star Valley area than I served in.. So I was left to hitchhike and walk around Afton all day with Elder Harper, the missionary who replaced me in Star Valley a year ago when I left. I wasn't able to visit absolutely everyone we intended to see, but we did get to see the Metcalfs - the non-member family of 5 who Elder Billmire and I began teaching who got baptized a few months after I left. We also got to visit and see the other two kids (the Verley's) who we baptized back in May. It was so surreal to be back! But it's officially out of the mission now. As of yesterday the mission no longer covers Star Valley, Soda Springs, or Montpelier.  Happy Canada Day!

This has just been one of the busiest transfers EVER with all the meetings that we've had. Two mission conferences, two mission leadership councils, several zone studies and district meetings, AP exchanges AND President exchanges, as well as planning and organizing all of the trainings we've given this transfer. We had another missionary musical fireside on Sunday and it was a really good one. Not sure if they recorded this one. They had a lot more focus on inviting the Spirit through the music and only had 6 testimonies instead of the usual 15. So it was a lot more channeled and focused on simple, powerful declarations of truth. Unfortunately none of the investigators that we invited came! A couple of our Ward Mission Leaders came and loved it, but we didn't get any of the non members and less actives that we're working with out this time around.. Blast. We've had a slower week for lessons and things, most of the regular appointments we have with our "usual suspects" kinda fell through for one reason or another. I'm pretty sure I know who I'm going to be getting as a companion next transfer.. Weird, right? But if it is who I think it is, it's going to be a good one. Even though I'll be pretty sad when Elder LaFond leaves. He's been pretty awesome to have as a companion, I daresay my favorite so far. I still love this area, and while we haven't seen any immediate revelations from the broadcast last week, people all around us are still asking us how they can help out with the missionary work in the area. Next transfer we'll be able to place a greater focus on the area and the people we've picked up to teach, so if all goes according to plan, and of course God-willing, we'll be able to have a few more baptisms next transfer. Pray for miracles!

Mom - Can you believe there wasn't anywhere around here to buy a Canadian flag? We went to go buy one and they were just setting up the 4th of July display. Wrong country! I also can't believe I'm nearing the 20 month mark. I got my ecclesiastical endorsement done from President Hiers, so it's time to submit the BYU application! I've reviewed everything, so if there's nothing else you need from me you can go ahead and send it in. I wish I could've visited the cat killer while I was in Star Valley. He got off work like 20 minutes after we left.. And so did the other kid that we baptized. Oh! Speaking of him, he's working in Alpine Wyoming this summer, doing one more semester of college, and then putting in his mission papers! That's gonna be so sweet. . I didn't march in the 4th of July parade last year, but the 24th of July. Which is Pioneer day, and that's bigger than the 4th around here. I don't know what our plans are still - we might have to be in some sort of meeting.

Dad - That.. Sounds like quite an ordeal of a trek! We went on a mini trek in Nauvoo which was about as treacherous and muddy as I could have imagined, but the distance was only like 3 miles. If that. The whole bit about babies dying and people leaving others alone to walk sounds rather intense. Did Ryan go on the trek or not? I printed off that talk just now and I'll be reading it probably in personal study tomorrow. Ever since that "saved by grace" concert Elder Cox and I got conned into last year I'll admit I've been slightly curious as to what we truly believe. It's a difficult concept to grasp, nonetheless! If you want to hear Elder Callister's atonement remarks, I'm 99% sure he was just quoting his book (The Infinite Atonement) the entire time. And as I'll just massacre it when I tell you, maybe hearing it straight from him would help more. :) Tell Ryan to stop being a noob!

I love you guys! I'll let you know on transfers next week.

- Elder Tyler Grant

June 25th, 2013

Hey guess what? Last Friday we got a random phone call bright and early from the APs, telling us that a missionary down in Clearfield was going home early and Elder J. would take his place. We found out at 7 that morning and he was gone by 2pm. So we're not in a trio anymore! And let me tell you... It is SO much nicer. We had gotten used to all the quirks and sucky parts about it, but now that it's over with, I'm really glad to be in just a twosome again. Elder J. just got put with a super strong and hyper-obedient missionary from Germany, and we're excited for him. It was pretty hard to deal with, especially because he didn't really contribute a whole lot to lessons, contacts, or anything else.. But hey! We all learned a lot, and at the very least the area is prospering.

Speaking of which! We went from 2 baptismal dates to 8 over the course of 3 days last week. We started teaching Joe's son last Monday and he accepted the invitation to be baptized. And then! The greatest miracle of all.. Is on Wednesday, we went on exchanges with the APs and we taught the new family that we found. They're literally some of the most prepared people I've ever met. They just moved to Corinne about a month and a half ago from Pennsylvania and they love it here. We taught them the first lesson and shared the first vision with them. Typically when you share the first vision it's difficult to help people recognize the feelings of the Spirit.. But all four members of the family described how they felt, and recognized that God was telling them the message was true. So we invited them to be baptized, and they all said yes! It was truly a miracle. We've taught them a couple of times since then and they are just amazing. The parents weren't able to make it to church on Sunday but the two boys did, and they absolutely loved it. In fact, they're already both enrolled in scouts and young mens and they're reading the Book of Mormon together as a family. They're just an amazing family. They've gone through a lot of trials and have come from struggling circumstances, but they're just embracing everything we share with them and the ward is receiving them with open arms. Miracles!

Oh.. By the way.. I guess I didn't mention. I'm in Afton Wyoming right now! It's the last P-Day before the mission splits on July 1st and we took a trip up to Star Valley to visit some people. I'm pretty freaking excited - rolling into the valley just felt like coming home again. So if this letter is a wee bit short it's because we wanted to go visit people right away! :)

We had a mission conference last week with Elder Tad R. Callister of the Presidency of the Seventy and it was pretty awesome. He shared some insights on the Atonement that blew my mind and everyone else's who was there. I also got to say goodbye to Elder Bengtson and Elder C..  On the other hand, I got a surprise phone call from Elder Bengtson last Friday. They moved the Pocatello mission boundaries around and moved some of the missionaries in those areas around.. And as a result, they're emergency transferring Elder Bengtson back into the mission! He was way excited, and I was glad. He was giving it his all in Idaho and I think they decided that other people needed to leave the mission more than he did. So he's coming back!

Also.. That worldwide leadership training was just awesome. That's what I'd call a 'gentle spanking' from the first presidency and the twelve. It's funny because they really didn't say anything new, but they just affirmed and drilled all the things that we are SUPPOSED to do as members of the church back into our heads. It was a really powerful training too - if it has any bearing on the work that's already going on, then we're going to have our hands completely full. Which would be awesome, of course. I wonder what's going to change in the missionary work in Iowa?

Mom - Ryan went to church! Ta-daa!! I also can't believe that Evan is a priest now.. It kinda freaks me out. Time just keeps on moving along... Sad to miss another Canada trip. Send extra chips to compensate! Hahaha. Try not to get too overwhelmed with all the craziness of life. I've only felt the tip of the iceberg, I think. We've been trying to do so many things at once that I get lost sometimes. But it's all mostly working out.

Dad - New projector? New ties? New found priesthood responsibilities? I'm really excited to hear that Evan's behavior is on a bit of an upturn. He's a good kid beneath it all, you know! Sometimes you get a glimpse of that. We tried to go golfing last week but the course was too full. I haven't had the chance to read that talk yet. Our p-days have been just loaded lately. I'll shoot for next week though. And the traveling AP is a calling that is still in trial, this is only the 3rd transfer they've done it. They have two missionaries called to be the "traveling trainers" and their calling is to go around to individual companionship's and spend the day in their area with them; to help commit  investigators for baptism, to help work difficult areas, and to give feedback, correction, and criticism where needed. It sounds like the most stressful calling in the world. I'm also pretty confident that I won't have to deal with such a calling, as I'm probably going to finish out as a Zone Leader. At least I hope so. I don't know if I could handle being a trainer again. I'd rather finish out being able to help and teach other missionaries than try another Elder C. situation.. I'll pass!

Well hey. If I left anything out that you wanted to hear about, then ask me to fill you in next week. I love you guys. But right now Star Valley is calling me! :)

Love,

- Elder Tyler Grant

June, 18th, 2013

I guess we're already 3 weeks in... Sick!

This past week has been a lot better. We picked up 2 people who now have a baptismal date, and have been trying to re-commit the people who have been slipping through the cracks. We've been doing a TON of splits.. And they've been working amazingly. Especially when we've been going out on visits with the ward mission leaders. The other night Elder LaFond went out with a ward mission leader in a ward that we haven't worked a ton because we've been focusing on all the other wards and didn't think this one had a ton of potential. They went to visit a new move-in family from Pennsylvania who are actually all non-members (mom, dad, 2 kids) and they had told their neighbor they wanted the missionaries! And we have a lesson with them set up for tomorrow! We've just been getting a LOT of referrals lately, and have been setting up a lot of first lessons with new investigators.. As well as teaching the progressing people that we have. It's been a huge upturn from the week before, and I think it's inspiring all the ward mission leaders to see that there actually IS work within their wards.. People who they just haven't tried in a while. And actually, I didn't even get to go out on splits with the mission president because Elder LaFond and I both felt that it would be a better humbling experience for Elder J. So that night President showed up, grabbed Elder J's shoulder, and said "Hey what do you say me and you hit up all those referrals you've gotten lately?" And I'm pretty sure it scared him to death. That's the one thing we're trying to help him with is his pride. He feels like he's an amazing missionary and he kinda bosses us around and tries to make demands, but in teaching and contacting situations he shuts up. I think he got pretty scared though... Hopefully it helped him to see he's still in a position where he can learn and grow.

In other great news, a less-active family who we've been teaching for a while finally came to church! They've told us they were going to come for the last month, and they haven't kept their promise.. Last week instead of focusing on teaching their 8-year-old daughter who they're convinced they're just going to baptize and be done with it, we taught the parents the importance of being strong in the Gospel as a family. And we challenged them to take the commitment of going to church and having their daughter baptized more seriously. We challenged them to go to the temple, and they definitely hesitated.. Which sucks. But they came! All of them but their two oldest daughters came, and they have 7 kids.. But it was super cool to see them there. They actually sat right in front of another family who showed up for church that day who has been promising us they'd go to church for the last 2 months. It was a great Sunday! Mostly.. Some of the other people that we were realllly hoping would go bailed on us.. But we can count our blessings while we have them.

The splits and exchanges with missionaries aren't going to stop anytime soon. Tomorrow we're sending Elder J. to Tremonton for the day to go on splits with another trio there, and one of the assistants to the president is coming to spend the day in our area tomorrow in his place. Last Saturday we went on splits with the whole zone to try and boost the efforts in all the areas. Not to mention we still have ward mission leader and priest splits at night.. AND the traveling APs are coming to our zone for the week and will be spending a day with us.. And we haven't even squeezed in the two exchanges we have to do with the district leaders yet. This is turning out to be a super busy transfer. On Thursday we are having a mission conference with Elder Tad R. Callister of the presidency of the 70 and a day of service because the mission is going to be split in a week and a half. I'm surprised we've been able to keep everything organized within our own area with all the stuff we've been trying to pull off at once. I don't think I've ever had to focus this much or try and juggle so many things at a time. I guess it just goes to show that when you give everything to the Lord, he makes up the difference and blesses us with success. I sure hope so.. Because the next 3 weeks are looking to be just as crazy as the last 3. 

Mom - Thanks for keeping the blog edited. I just don't want people within the mission to be checking it out and getting offended by stuff I say.. This is supposed to be a journal, after all. I'm going to mention the ecclesiastical interview today in my e-mail to him since I spaced it last week. . I haven't seen The Other Side of Heaven, actually. Does Ryan REALLY want to design prosthetic limbs? Or is he just being weird? Hahaha. I had forgotten Evan was taking a break from band.. I can't believe he's so committed to this lawn mowing thing. I've actually been surprised at how well I've been able to play the piano lately. I've gotten to the point where most songs don't psych me out for too long if someone asks me to try and play something by ear. Hymns are a piece of cake, but I try not to play at baptisms because then I get stuck behind the piano the whole time. We've gotten several 19 year old sisters (high maintenance) and 18 year old elders, but I haven't served with any of them yet. Some Concerta soon would probably be nice.

Dad - Happy Father's Day! I've never been good at being mushy or anything, so I'm not even going to try. But I do hope you had a great father's day, and I'm glad you've continued to faithfully write me every single week. It's been awesome. :) Sorry I don't get to report on going on splits with the mission president.. I'll probably get at least another shot to do it before I go home. On the bright side, while Elder J. was flopping contacts with the mission president, Elder LaFond and I taught 3 lessons and picked up a baptismal date. So it worked out. I think with all the busy stuff that's been going on I'm learning to prioritize and feel at least a little bit like what you must feel like juggling family, work, and two callings. Keep it up! And I didn't mean that we're doing allllll dead-end work.. We're just teaching a few people who are progressing extremely slowly and its frustrating sometimes. I know we're furthering the work in one way or another.

I love you guys! Thanks again for all the help and support. Peace out!

Love,

- Elder Tyler Grant

June 11th, 2013

Hello, everyone.

This week has been trying once again.. Not as a companionship, but with the zone and with the area. The teaching pool is pretty low because of dropped investigators, baptisms, and people moving. And it's not just even in one ward, it's across the stake. There have been SO many changes with the leadership... We've cycled 3 ward mission leaders, 3 bishops, and a high councilman over the last 2 weeks. So everyone is just getting back on their feet and fired up to go again. We've got splits set up for the next 4 nights straight... Planning on working this stake into the ground. Two of the nights are going to be with ward mission leaders, one night with a priest, and tomorrow night President Hiers volunteered to come up to go on splits with us. AKA tomorrow night I'm going to take the mission president around with me for 3 hours setting up lessons, contacting referrals, and tracting while Elder LaFond and Elder J. go teach our 3 lessons we have set up already. It's going to be a super draining week, but we're literally giving it all we've got right now. We had a slow week last week as far as teaching investigators, and had taken to teaching a bunch of less actives and excommunicated members as fill-in-the-gaps work.. Which was super frustrating because instead of finding new people to teach we were doing basically less-active home teaching and made very little progress. When we ran out of investigators they just dumped a bunch of busy work on us, and we're always glad to help, but most of it was kind of dead-end work. We don't have a single person with a baptismal date right now, but so far we've got lessons set up with 5 or 6 potentials who haven't been baptized and the next 4 nights are strictly for finding.. Hyperinflate the teaching pool! It's worth a shot anyway. 

A couple of the nonmembers that we're working with are just absolutely crazy. There's a less-active guy who lives 3 doors down from us in our apartment complex who struggles with depression a lot.. And he has a roommate  who's 70 years old. His whole family has joined the church and is insanely active and happy, and he's struggled with alcoholism and .. well .. he's like one of the most closed off people I've ever met. Plus every time we talk to him he's completely drunk.. Hahaha. The other night we tried to teach him a bit of the Restoration, and when we talked about God being our Heavenly Father, he said "You guys have no idea who God is... But I do." Puzzled, we tried to pry him for an answer. "I'll tell you, but you'll freaking flip out of your chairs." Wait for it... Wait... "God is nothing but a bunch of aliens. They came down to the Neanderthals and abducted them, deposited alien DNA in us, and that's why we're made in God's image. Then they built the pyramids in Egypt and Peru. Also - the Bible is a load of BS. Read the epic of Gilgamesh and you'll see.. Noah made that whole story up about the ark." I was trying so hard not to laugh.. He then told us the reason he won't join the church is because of the Sand Creek Massacre, where he says Brigham Young single-handedly killed 200 innocent pioneer women and children and raped them. Yeah.. The guy is pretty crazy. But hey! The Spirit can touch even the hardest heart, right? Right? I never realized until my mission just how many crazy people there are in the world. Most of them are crazy because of drugs.. Were you aware that so many people are on drugs? I don't get it. Drugs are such a waste and it is, has been, and always will be a dead end street. We're on the lookout for a ton of new investigators though, and I know that we'll be able to find them with the Lord's help as well as the amazing leadership in this stake. We're just hitting up our new ward tonight on visits with the Ward Mission Leader to get a better idea of what kind of potential investigators may be hidden there.. Pray for miracles! We sure need them!

The trio is going well though. We've gotten past the awkwardness factor and we're all getting along really well. We're still confused as to why Elder J. was called to be here because he's really not that bad of a missionary. He's been out now for 8 months, and honestly he just hasn't been given a shot. He was trained by a super disobedient problem missionary and has had tough companions since then. But all things considered, he's held out pretty well. The zone is struggling pretty badly though. I think I told you before - we kinda got handed a toss-up of disobedient, socially awkward, and unmotivated missionaries at transfers, and are dealing with several issues within the zone. Remember how you told me that the Lord stretches us? I sure do believe you. There are 4 Spanish missionaries in the zone and they're supposed to be splitting up and using that to their advantage to get twice as much work done.. But instead they wrecked their car and have just been wasting time either at their apartment or just walking around as a foursome.. Another set of Elders has just been complaining and sleeping in... Another set just lost their car at the same time as most of their investigators just magically disappeared... One of the sister missionaries we have in the zone now is absolutely mental. As in, she came into the mission with extra information for the mission president warning him of how psycho she is. So, like I said.. We're working through a few problems right now. As well as trying to jump start our area. And work in a trio. Lots of prayers on this one! Sometimes I sure am glad I have ADHD so I can have so many trains of thought and objectives in mind.

Mom - For the record, I totally wrote that BYU essay last week. So all I need now is an interview from President Hiers.. Which I should probably get the ball rolling on that. Oopsies. Girls camp is the best for missionary opportunities.. Like, 95% of nonmember girls who go to camp have a strong experience with the spirit and end up meeting with the missionaries. Sick, huh? We're probably going to HuHot again today. Also - any idea on how much money I have left on my personal card? Because I used it at the end of last month for the first time in a while because I ran out of mission funds, and I literally have no clue how much I have on there. I'm super bummed that I won't get to see Matt. But it's for the best possible reason, and we'll just have to wait another 2 years to play Digimon. No biggie! I had thought that Ryan had gotten better with going to church and stuff. Oh - is there any way you can like.. Make my blog more private? I know it's great for all the members of the branch and friends to read it and stuff.. But if any missionary in our mission looks up "utah ogden mission" on google then my blog comes up. And I don't really want anybody reading it since it's kind of like a journal in that way.

Dad - Evan blessing the sacrament! That.. Will be quite a sight. We actually had to bless the sacrament in one of the wards we went to on Sunday because they only have 1 priest in the ward. It's a SUPER young ward.. They have 1 priest, 60 in the nursery, 4 primaries... It's freaking insane. I was joking about the whole AP thing. President Moriyama didn't fancy you THAT much, huh? :) The APs that we have had are usually awesome.. With the occasional guy that you just hate to love. I'll be sure to look over that talk as well.

I hope you all know that I love you. The work is picking up, and we're doing as much as we can to get it there. I'm not QUITE at wit's end yet, but I may get there over time. Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things THROUGH Christ which strengtheneth me." I'm so grateful to be doing God's work, and I know that if we do it His way then we are entitled to His help. So I'll make it, even if it kills me. :)

Love,

- Elder Tyler Grant

June 4th, 2013

Hello, friends and family.

Well I must admit.. More than anything, it's been a trying week. Not that our new companion is that bad. .. And he seems to be pretty obedient, maybe a little bit prideful, but nothing awful. Being in a trio has just been extremely difficult. All of the members in the area keep asking why there are three of us, and we can't exactly tell them "Oh! We're the zone leaders and our companion is a troubled missionary who needs a boost!" It's weird teaching with 3 people, especially because Elder LaFond and I had a solid teaching pattern going. It weird going to dinners with 3 people. More than anything it's really weird to try and contact people at the door with three. It feels like we're ambushing their house. All of our investigators are really confused, we're confused, Elder J is confused.. It's also extremely hard to include him in everything that we do, because we have to prepare trainings, zone studies, exchanges with district leaders, give feedback/council to struggling missionaries in the zone.. And he's not really a part of that. So we're trying not to have him feel not included, but it's difficult. What we're trying to do to compensate is set up splits with our ward mission leaders and priests whenever we have dinners so that two of us can go teach while the other goes out on visits and finds, thus getting twice as much work done at once. We're still trying to start it all up, but we successfully did it last night and we got a ton of work done in only a few hours. I went out on visits with the ward mission leader and they went and taught 3 lessons.. It's working in theory. Just finalizing the execution. One thing that we're going to implement to build up the member trust as well as get referrals is we're going to send Elder J with the priest and mission age youth on splits to visit active families and share family home evenings with them. With that, he's going to be able to have a lot of non-threatening teaching experiences and also create a strong belief for the young men of missionary work.. He'll share an object lesson, tie it to a Gospel principle, and then leave a Book of Mormon behind with a prayerful challenge to find someone to teach. All of that WHILE Elder LaFond and I will be teaching and finding.. It's getting chaotic, and it's a lot of work to get it all set up, but we're really hoping to see success from it. We're also trying to go to every single ward council meeting within the next 3 weeks. We went to three ward councils on Sunday and got everyone fired up, and with every seed we plant it seems like more people are catching the vision. I don't know if I've ever tried to do so much ground work all at once. But we are trying to use the trio to our advantage, and are sincerely trying to show the Lord that we're willing to work even though it's different and a little bit weird. There has to be a reason that he was brought here! He's a really good kid. I like him and I'm pretty sure he's excited to be here. We're just gonna put him to work along with the rest of us, and see if we can't get some insane work going on in the Brigham West stake again!

Phew. So with all of that, we did have another baptism on Saturday. Her name is Jasmine and she's in a less-active home. She's been coming to church for a long time now, and the only reason her baptism hasn't happened until now was because her grandpa was waiting to fly out from California to baptize her. He's super active and is a bishop in a Spanish ward out there. It was pretty unique - she got baptized with the 'stake baptisms' ... Which I decided is one of my least favorite things about Utah. They just take all the 8-year-olds in the stake who need to get baptized and have like a huge baptismal service. It kinda takes away the special day for the baptism, though. There were like 9 kids who got baptized one after the other with Jasmine, but she had a lot of family there to support her. She's a super special girl and we're working with her dad to try and keep the Spirit in their home. Her fellow shipping family is the 2nd councilor in the stake presidency.. So she's in good hands!

We're working with another girl named Chelsie who's 15 and incredibly prepared to be baptized. When she was initially 'interested' in being taught, she basically told the missionaries that she was meeting with them to be polite. But as she's applied the things we've taught her, such as praying and reading the scriptures, she's felt the very real presence of the spirit changing her life. The one thing we haven't been able to do with her is get her to church.. And it's been frustrating. This past week she promised us she would be there, and she seemed more sure than she ever had been. Sunday rolled around.. And we didn't see her there. So we were obviously somewhat crushed. We taught her yesterday night and she told us why, and I had to laugh... School had just gotten out this past week and she spent a few days with her friends over the weekend. And had lost track of what day it was. We knew something was up when the first thing she told us was "So.. I thought that today was Sunday." She had walked a half mile from her house to go to church, and was kind of confused with no one was there. She got all dressed up and walked, and it was Monday! So we couldn't even be mad at her. It was pretty funny. We're fingers-crossed-ing to the max that she'll be there this week. :)

Mom - School is so out! And Matt so has his mission call! I'm so excited for him.. Brazil! And he's literally only going to miss seeing me by a week or less. Ridiculous! How come he gets to learn a language!? Haha I'm over it. I bet his mom (Mrs. Kim!) was super proud. Yes you can give my coat to Jacob - I don't really see myself wearing it because it's so huge. :) We weren't given a ton of guidelines on how to take our newest "assignment..." So that's been the biggest challenge. But, as I've explained, we're just going to put him to work and create a positive experience for him. I'm not sure what sends a missionary home other than serious transgressions on or before the mission..? More missionaries have gone home with President Hiers already than the 3 years of President Olson total. He tries to tolerate idiots, but sometimes it's just for the best. I haven't really made an effort to complete that last essay.. I'll probably do it today, if you don't mind. And that's super sad about nanny and grampy... I'll try and keep them in my prayers.

Dad - Yeah, leadership sure is about changes. You were Assistant to the President, right? :) We're trying to help him as much as we can. It's just odd because he's not that bad of a missionary.. Like I said, we're more just confused and its just awkward more than anything. HuHot was amazing, and Elder LaFond loved it too. Definitely going to have to go there more often, and for sure in Sioux City.

Hey I love you guys. I'm gonna write to the President and then try and crank out that essay.. And maybe send you a picture or two. Tell Matt congratulations for me, and maybe a shout-out to the branch if you have the chance. :)

Love,

- Elder Tyler Grant

One more thing!!!!

HUHOT IS NOW OPEN IN LOGAN AND WE'RE MOST CERTAINLY GOING THERE TODAY!

- me

May 28th, 2013

Yeah I probably jinxed it.

We got the transfer calls last night, and much to our surprise Elder LaFond and I will be remaining together, which we're super excited for. But.. It couldn't be that easy, could it? President Hiers has put us on a special assignment to have a "zone leader buddy." That is, we're going to have a problem missionary serving with the two of us. He's not going to be a ZL, but we're going to be in a trio for the next 6 weeks. Which, I must admit, I'm not excited about. Three is SO much more than two.. It's going to make our appointments more crowded and teaching a lot more difficult. Not to mention that our new companion has been a problem missionary and hasn't been obedient or easy to get along with. We're one of two sets of ZLs who are getting this weird assignment, and the reason we're the ones getting him is because President Hiers knows we can handle it. We told our stake president last night that we're going to be getting a 3rd missionary and he brought up that it was really a compliment to us as leaders that he trusts us with it. Which.. Is a weird form of flattery. But we're going to try and use it to our advantage - setting up splits with the ward mission leaders to get some extra work done. It'll also be a test of patience, as well as an opportunity to shape another missionary's experience for the better. We're going to need some extra prayers this transfer for sure. The rest of the zone got turned upside down as well, and... honestly, it's not looking very good. A lot of the strong missionaries in the zone were called to serve in leadership positions and the ones here to replace them are all disobedient or problem missionaries. It's going to be a trying transfer, and it's going to take some miracles to see the success that we've seen this past 6 weeks. I'm really excited to stay with Elder LaFond though. But they HAD to throw in a twist, didn't they?

This past week the amount of lessons we taught dropped quite a bit. Mostly because we baptized our main investigators at the same time that one guy got evicted and arrested, one lady moved to Salt Lake, another guy dropped us, and another lady's apartment complex was condemned to be destroyed and she's also being evicted. So our teaching pool has dipped considerably. Heap on the trials, Heavenly Father! We've spent a lot more time finding in the past week and are starting to collect some more solid potentials. We got yelled at while trying to visit a potential investigator the other day, which hasn't happened in a while. We contacted this teenage girl the other day and she told us she wanted to start going to church and get baptized. We showed up at her house and knocked on the screen door, which was open, and someone in the house yelled "Go away!" We stood there confused for a second, and then she yelled again "Seriously! Get off of my porch! Go away!" So there goes that potential.. I just don't understand people sometimes. We're not just lifeless robots - we're people too and we deserve the respect as such. Something about wearing a missionary name tag must automatically mean that we're an enemy and need to be attacked. It's just really sad because that's another instance where the parents, who are MEMBERS of the church, are literally getting in the way of someones salvation, and even worse, their own child's salvation. But we're going to be working hard with our ward mission leaders to find more people to teach. We're having a baptism this Saturday for a little girl we've taught for a while. The entire stake just got shaken up too. They gave us another ward to cover in the stake, released 3 bishops and two ward mission leaders, and called all new ones last Sunday. So literally everything just got turned upside down. Sure is gonna be a trial of faith!

Random side note. We went to a fireside this Sunday and John Bytheway was there. It was a priesthood fireside and they invited all the missionaries to get up at the end and sing "Called to Serve." It was a really good fireside. Brother Bytheway is a really good speaker - I don't know how they randomly recruited him to come.. But it was a sweet experience. Oh. And another random side note. Remember my extremely difficult MTC companion? I just got an e-mail from him today. He's been out for 18 months and still isn't a senior companion, and he's probably getting switched into another mission. So obviously I'm not the only one who had a hard time with him. I'm just glad I had the chance to serve with him in the MTC so that when my real trainer came around I appreciated him that much more. Comparatively I'm also able to see the growth in me from where I was at the beginning to where I am now. As in I don't hate him anymore. Well... I still wasn't a fan of him while I was around him all the time. But I do feel bad that he's struggling so much and I want him to succeed. The last two Elders from our MTC district just got called to leadership positions in the neighboring zone, so I'm excited for what's to come.

Mom - Tanner Mickelsen is old enough to be a missionary? When on earth did that happen?? Wow that's awesome. I forwarded you a copy of the essay Nate wrote me - it's pretty interesting but more than anything it reminded me about what being educated in school felt like.. Hahaha. Not that I feel dumb now, but I can definitely feel my once common knowledge from school slipping away from me. Ryan's bringing friends to Canada? That'll be an interesting twist. That's also crazy about all the rain. It's been raining on and off here, which is unusual for Utah. Not enough rain here. I thought you said that Malena was going on a mission? That's so strange that Camille has graduated too.. The world keeps moving, doesn't it?

Dad - I miss huge rainstorms like that. I'm guessing Evan's Pokemon craze has numbed his fear of weather then, huh? The sister drama is subsiding a little bit.. They turned over one of the people they took from us and the other one up and moved away. The biggest headache this transfer is going to be dealing with our difficult zone. And zone leader buddy. For the most part when zone leaders get released they usually get made a district leader/trainer, or one of the two. They usually take the strong missionaries and have them train the new guys coming in to keep the mission sufficiently strong. We have two districts in the zone, both of them have 8 missionaries in them.

OH! Are you ready for possibly the saddest news of all? So I know I told you that our mission is being split and we're losing all of Idaho. Wait, I did tell you that, right? Well if not then surprise! Everyone serving in Idaho and Wyoming will be a part of the Pocatello mission. And that comes with great news and awful news. The great news is that they're shipping a certain Elder up to Idaho to 'dump him' into the other mission! Haha that sounds awful.. But seriously - it will be a good change for him to be able to start fresh as he has already destroyed his first impression and relationship with members and missionaries in this mission. Are you ready for the sad news? Elder BENGTSON is also going to the other mission! He's going to be a senior companion now and I'm really sad to see him go. It just sucks! BOTH of the missionaries that I trained will be leaving the mission, so it'll be like I never trained at all. And that totally sucks. Well.. It sucks that Bengtson's leaving. And at this point I'm looking to probably finish my mission as a zone leader without training again. But hey. I'm over it.

I love you guys! Thanks for the package - I already downed a bag of ketchup chips. They were just great. When you go to Canada don't hesitate to send more.. :) I'm excited to stay in Brigham despite all the upcoming challenges. Wish me luck!

- Elder Tyler Grant