This week was pretty neat. Lots of people to teach, changes coming up, time moving too quickly, etc. You know, mission stuff. As far as investigators go, there hasn't been anything too interesting happening lately. We're just (as always) trying to get people to come to church.
Second best thing from this week: Our shopping spree. I had about $600 pesos left for the month this morning (the month ends tomorrow), so we decided to head down to the best of the best in stores down here: Wal-Mart. We just started throwing a ton of food in the basket, still being smart about our spending to get as much as possible, and we bought food for what looks like the next 2 weeks. We're gonna have some good eats in these coming days. I also stopped by Suburbia and bought some pretty neat ties for super cheap; about $16 (US) for both of them. Sometimes I absolutely love Mexico :D Best part of this week: Stake Conference. I don't know if I mentioned this in my emails in the past few weeks, but we've been looking forward to stake conference for quite some time now. We were told it would be held in the chapel next to the temple in Mexico City, and we were absolutely ecstatic when President Egbert gave us permission to go. We wouldn't be allowed to go into the temple, but just being near it was good enough for us. We went to take some pictures up close by the front door, but the guard was all like, "WOAH! You can't go past this clearly opened gate to take photos!" and then proceeded to close the gate behind us as we walked down. If you don't want people up there, close the gate and save us all the awkwardness. We still got some pretty good photos from a bit further away, though. It was rather interesting as we drove closer and closer to the temple in our bus; I continued anxiously looking for the Angel Moroni to peek through the tops of the buildings... and then I saw him; bright, golden, and absolutely beautiful. It had been far too long since I had seen that angel, and I was filled with a rather familiar peace that I had only really ever felt inside the temple. It made me think of the story in Mosiah, when King Benjamin constructed a tower on top of the temple to speak to all of the people in the city. Everyone came near with their families and planted their tents with the door facing the temple. I've always loved the way we can apply that story into our own lives, pointing ourselves and our families towards the temple and the sacred ordinances that lie within. We'll be filled with an everlasting and eternal peace as we make the constant effort to attend the temple and always live true to the principles we learn there. I'm incredibly grateful for the opportunity I had to even be outside the temple. Don't take for granted the priviledge of having a temple close and not entering inside. There are plenty of people who would gladly trade places with you for even the opportunity to be outside the temple and just feel its atmosphere. Iré y haré, Elder Groesbeck
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This week was just swell. We did lots of interchanges, so for two days I was working outside of my area helping bring up the success in others. In terms of numbers, it was pretty rough due to our lack of investigators at church, but hey, that's the mission life. Satan's been working hard with some of our more progressive investigators, but we are certainly NOT letting that get us down.
Fun story of the week: today. I wanted to be able to do something for Thanksgiving, so Elder Grajales and I planned a zone activity where each companionship would choose the companion who was from the more interesting country and then bring a traditional dish from said country to the chapel. We had a TON of food. Elder Grajales made Bonuelos, which are basically fried cheese balls typical in Colombia. Elder Johnson brought some Corn Dogs (they have EVERYTHING at WalMart here). Someone brought fried chicken, and Elder Gonzalez kept going back for more, saying, "¡Viva África!" Oh, Elder Gonzalez. Triste payaso. So we ate a lot, and then we decided to play volleyball. I added the challenge that the last person to throw up won. Don't worry, no one threw up. I got a little bit fried, but I was on the side in direct sunlight. Not the best decision I've ever made... Either way, it was fun to be back in my element of the volleyball court and not feeling like an idiot on the fútbol field. As mentioned above, Satan has been working pretty hard to get our investigators down this past week. Blanca (mentioned last week), who was super excited to keep learning about God, suddenly got swamped with night shifts at work, so we didn't see her for the entire week until last night, when she told us that her work is making her take some sort of medicine class every Sunday from 10 to 1 for the next three weeks. Those are the exact hours that we're at church! Satan in far too powerful. Elder Groesbeck is not amused. She still wants to learn more and has been reading in the Book of Mormon, but we have no idea what we're gonna do about her baptism. She has to be able to go to church to get baptized. Dumb work schedule=no church=no baptism. SUPER lame. We're going to visit her later tonight to make a plan, so we'll see what we can do. As children of God, we've been given the marvelous gift of agency, the ability to choose between right and wrong, good and evil, better or worse. God cannot (ever) take our agency from us, although I would very much like Him to sometimes. Satan's goal is to get us to use our agency for worse and make us miserable like unto himself. Our goal as missionaries is to help God influence others to use their agency for good and find out just how happy it can make them. Unfortunately, despite our influences, people still have said agency and many have chosen not to read the Book of Mormon, not to pray, and not to go to church. Needless to say, this makes us and the Lord quite sad. Therefore, as a servant of the Lord, I plead with each and every one of you to use your agency for good. Study your scriptures, pray, and be spiritually nourished at church. You will see the blessings, and you will find true happiness. Then, and only then, can you be the best instrument for good in the hands of the Lord. Don't take your agency for granted. Use it for good. Iré y haré, Elder Groesbeck This week was pretty hectic. Apparently not only for us, but for the entire zone. Everyone dropped in their number of lessons, new investigators, and investigators at church. We're not sure what happened. It seemed like everyone who was interested suddenly dropped out of the game. For the two of us, we had tons of investigators cancel, members say they suddenly got busy and couldn't go out with us, and appointments fall through after traveling for 20 minutes to get to where they live. That's life, I suppose. Analyze, adapt, and keep going. Elder Grajales and I analyzed the results, adjusted our methods (the zone goals), and we'll continue looking forward with faith.
On a much brighter note, I had my first zone conference as a zone leader this past week, and it went swimmingly. We think someone robbed 3 of the tables that were supposedly in the chapel, so we had to adjust with some of the smaller ones, but other than that everything was good. Elder Grajales and I had a relatively short portion of a half hour to teach, and it went by super fast. I felt like we still had so much to talk about when we finished. Highlight of this week: family home evening last night. Our investigator Blanca (yes, the one who's mother wants me to marry her) is progressing quite nicely. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to come to church on Sunday and we had to change her baptismal date, but she's super excited about everything we teach her. I don't remember what I've already expained about her, but she hasn't ever had a very firm belief in God or anything, and from the moment we started teaching her, she told us that for whatever reason, she decided to listen to us when she had rejected so many different missionaries (from other religions) before. One of the best parts is that she already understands the scriptures really well. Every time we have her read a scripture and tell us what she understands in it, she knows exactly what it means and then goes ahead and applies it to her own life. It's so awesome! During our family home evening on Sunday, she said, "I prayed for the first time last night, and I felt really good. I normally have nightmares, but I slept super well last night. I actually really like the way that you guys pray beause I can say what I feel, and it's not something memorized. I think I'm with you guys to be baptized on December 5th." I could have cried when she said that, but I held it in. We had to break it to her that her baptismal date had changed to the 19th due to her lack of attendance at church that morning, but she's still super excited. It's really amazing how the Lord prepares people. Sometimes we really have no idea who can possibly be ready to receive the gospel. The Lord took this 18-year-old girl who had absolutely no beliefs in God, and opened her heart to the gospel. They're small miracles like a heartfelt comment from an investigator that can brighten our day, our hope, and our belief that God really does work with us in His work. Now we just have to keep going and find the Lord's other prepared children to share the gospel with as well, and everything will go super well here in Venta de Carpio. Iré y haré, Élder Groesbeck It's been a pretty calm week this week. By that I mean there weren't any assaults. I've been carrying my flashlight taser in my hand every night, and there have been no signs of anything suspicious happening. Laaaaame.
On the bright side, I'm finally learning my area pretty well. We did divisions with some of the members of the ward the other night, and I didn't get lost! I have a pretty good idea of where the investigators live, I know how to get to the church, and no matter where I am in the area, I can always find my way home. Yay for knowing the area! Considering it took me about 7 weeks to really get to know my last area, I'd say a week and a half is pretty good time. Strange story for the week: We have two investigators who are some of the best I've ever seen. Well, one is the best. Her mother may be a little tougher. They're both really receptive, accepted a baptismal date, and went to church on Sunday. We took a taxi back with them after church, and on the way, they asked us about what all we do on our missions. We explained that we're 100% dedicated to missionary work for these two years (we don't have jobs, we don't go to school, we don't go on dates, etc.), but when we get back, we start doing all of that stuff again. "Ohh, okay," said Silvia (the mother). "So when you get back, you can start working (her finger pointed to me), and then get married (her finger moved to her daughter)." "Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh.........*incredibly awkward chuckle*......" No further comment was made. My missionary mind isn't programmed to handle such comments combined with the body language indicating that I marry the daughter of an investigator. Does not compute. All vicarious flirting aside, the two of them seem very progressive. Blanca (the daughter) didn't really have a firm belief in God or anything before we met her. Needless to say, this is extremely rare in a country like Mexico where 98% of the population is Catholic. When we visited them Sunday night, after the lesson, Blanca simply said, "I feel happy. I feel very happy. I think this is where I need to be. In this church." When she said that, I wanted to yell. Fortunately, I was able to refrain... Until we got on our bikes and were out of earshot. Ugh, it's so great to see people come to know the truth and power of the gospel. As a zone leader, I have to be much more concerned about the wellbeing of others instead of my own success. Elder Grajales and I analyze the numbers of each of the companionships in our zone and assess what we all need to work on and what can change. Last week, for example, we decided to work on getting more new baptismal dates for our investigators. The zone was only having about 5 or 6 every week, so we set some zone goals for the week to improve. To make a long story short, last week the zone had 13 new dates. The last time that happened was the beginning of August, and before that, I can't find any other numbers higher. Needless to say, Elder Grajales and I are quite complacent with such immediate results. But we are most certainly not satisfied. We need to go higher. We set new zone goals this morning to get even more baptismal dates. I thought about how that really can apply to us in our lives. All of us will face successes in our lives, and all of us will fall short sometimes. I am reminded of the talk by Elder Bednar "The Character of Christ". What Christ did at every moment of his ministry was turn outward when the natural man would turn inward. Elder Grajales and I have seen quite a few successes here in these two weeks in Venta de Carpio, and we've fallen short a few times, but our real mission and responsibility here as Zone Leaders is not worry so much about our success and turn outward to help our other missionaries. Sure, we have to worry about what we're doing here in our area just as Christ had quite a few people to visit in His earthly ministry, but really we need to help other people. As we turn outward to help others, we heal ourselves within and become more like Christ. A few weeks ago I believe I mentioned a Mormon Message entitled Lift. I invite everyone to watch it. It exemplifies perfectly what exactly turning outward to others does for ourselves within. These past two weeks as a zone leader have really helped me see the results of our efforts. I feel myself becoming a better missionary as I help others work and improve, and really we can and will become better people as we work and help others improve. As we express the infinite love and patience that the Savior always expressed to everyone, we help them and ourselves. May we develope said love and patience and always strive to express it to everyone. Friends. Family. Neighbors. Even complete strangers. We will be blessed. Iré y haré, Elder Groesbeck Ugh. Best. Week. Ever. I'll start with the changes on Tuesday. Elder Gallegos is training, so I have my second grandson in the mission. His name is Elder Alder (another white grandson :D), and he seems quite nice. His Spanish was pretty good when he introduced himself in the changes meeting, so we'll see what he can do. Elder Gallegos is going to learn a LOT while training.
They didn't call out my changes until the very end, so all of the anxiety had pretty much left me. It turned into "can you just give me my changes now?" Usually I'm called out first, so it was just the opposite. I'm now the Zone Leader with Elder Grajales (from Columbia) of the Tecamac 1 zone. The majority of the mission is in Pachuca, but Tecamac 1 is one of the two zones that are in the state of Mexico. We're about 45 minutes outside of the heart of Mexico City (as well as the temple we can't go to; tamptation...), and it's SUPER LOCO out here! Like, I thought I knew what it was like to ride a bike like a Mexican, weaving in and out of traffic, but it was absolutely nothing compared to here. From day one, we were crossing highways, weaving through bumper to bumper traffic (I felt a little mean doing so, but we've got quite a bit of work to do), and kicking dogs at our heals. I think I'm going to die here... and I'm not talking about as a missionary. I feel that I've accustomed pretty well to the life as a zone leader; its a lot easier being a zone leader than a district leader because I have a companion to share the duties with. I have time to cook at night and do lots of other stuff I haven't had time to do in the last 7 months! It's wonderful! The best part is that my first son, Elder Gonzalez, is a district leader here in Tecamac 1, and he's still training my first grandson, Elder Johnson. We're all gonna get together someday (with Elder Gallegos and his son) to take a big family picture. It's gonna be great. Going back to the craziness of this area, that brings me to the highlight of the week. My companion has been pretty sick this past week (he got a pretty bad stomach infection from some flan he ate), so we've been rather limited with what we can do. Saturday night, however, we had a rather important appointment with a member reference that seemed to be very receptive when we met them, so Elder Grajales mustered up the strength to get going. The appointment wasn't until 8 in the evening, and it was raining a bit, so we set out on foot. There's a major highway that runs near our house, so we always take the big yellow bridge to get across it. As we walked, we conversed about the lesson we would have, making plans as to what we would teach and how we would do it. As we walked down the last ramp of the bridge, I saw that there were two gentlemen about to walk up, so I politely moved to the side behind Elder Grajales. Upon doing so, one of said gentlemen somewhat gently but very firmly put his hand on the center of my chest and began to push me backwards. I wasn't sure what was happening, so when he said, "teléfono," I didn't understand him. He repeated the word, and I understood: We were being assaulted. I looked down and saw a flathead screwdriver in his hand and thought, "seriously...? Whatever." I took out our peanut cell phone, and when he saw it, he angrily scoffed and then said, "¡dinero!" My companion pulled out his wallet which contained 50 pesos, and in his panic took out his planner. The thieves immediately snatched both. They then turned to me and said again, "¡dinero!" I very calmly and very directly said, "No llevo dinero conmigo (I don't carry money with me)." Yeah, I lied (I repented later), but I wasn't about to give them the 200 pesos in my pocket. Looking back and thinking of previous stories of assaults I've heard here in Mexico, I'm rather surprised they didn't hurt us at all. Normally if you don't give them what they're looking for, they give you a nice jab in the stomache, and even when you do, they give you another one afterwards. Instead, after telling them I didn't have money, the thief with the screwdriver snatched the peanut I still had in my hand and they both got into a car and quickly drove away. I realized something rather important afterwards as my companion continued to freak out a little bit: during the entire situation, I was unusually calm. It was as if the Holy Ghost was telling me personally and subconsciously that everything would be fine. I didn't even think of the potential consequences of telling the thieves that I didn't have any money. We went to the home of some members and used their phone to call President Egbert to tell him what happened, and that was that. We got a new phone the next day, I gave Elder Grajales the extra planner I had already prepared, and that was that. 50 pesos is worth like $3.50, so it really wasn't worth compaining about at all. I started this blog post by saying it was the best week ever. "But Elder Groesbeck," you may be wondering, "how could it have possibly been the best week ever? Your companion was sick the whole week, and you got assaulted." I'm certainly glad you asked. It was the best week ever because I was able to learn so much from these experiences. Elder Grajales being sick gave me a lot of much needed time to organize the house (it was pretty bad when I got here) and study our area book. And the whole assault thing taught me that I need to carry Leticia (my flashlight tazer) with me in my hand whenever we go out after sunset. Yay for learning opportunities! Another thing I've noticed especially here in the ward of Venta de Carpio is the way the member treat each other. Even before going to church on Sunday, I heard member after member (and even quite a few investigators) complaining about the way the other members talk/act, and for that reason, a rather large portion of the wards is less active or inactive all together. While the reason we go to church isn't for the people there, it is a really strong motivator for a lot of people to go there. It's a LOT harder to do something when you don't like the circumstances surrounding said thing. It's a lot harder to go to church and renew our covenants with our Heavenly Father when the people there make rude comments or say things offensive. The church is a grand hospital where we all go to be better. While some people understand that better than others, we need to do everything we can to not judge people for their problems, but to help them. When we help other people overcome their trials and errors, we will find it significantly easier to overcome our own and continue forward. That's what we do as missionaries, and that's why many apostles have said that there is a purifying affect in serving a mission. It isn't the mission that purifies us. It's the service that does so. When we turn outward and help others, we are automatically healed inward. I invite everyone to see the Mormon Message called Lift. It's absolutely beautiful. Let us not judge the world for it's inferiorities, but strive to always help it. When we do so, we will be true disciples of Jesus Christ. We will grow closer to Him, and He will grow closer to us. We will feel His Spirit more abundantly in our lives, and we will know that He not only loves us, but He loves all of His children. We will be instruments in His hands to help others to feel that very same love we feel as we do the things He would have us do. I can testify of that because I do it every day here in the mission field. What I do is help. Who I help are the people of Mexico. And how I help the people of Mexico is to feel the love of the Savior. When I do, I feel His love burning brighter and brigher within me. Go, do, and help. You won't regret it. Iré y haré, Elder Groesbeck It's been a rather long week this week. I feel like the thought of my having changes and that it would be my last week here in Presas made it pretty long. With the majority of the new people we found, I thought, "well... Elder Gallegos will keep teaching them..." I began saying goodbye to everyone yesterday at church, thinking the whole time, "this will be really awkward if I don't have changes..." We got the call for changes this morning, and it turns out I do, so any potential awkwardness of not having changes has been successfully avoided. The ward is pretty bummed because now they won't have anyone to play the piano for them during sacrament meeting, but maybe it'll motivate someone to start learning the hymns so they can help the ward out. They enjoyed the piano for four and a half months, so I believe it's time for someone else to step up to the plate.
We had stake conference yesterday, and both President and Sister Egbert came. The coolest part was that Sister Egbert gave a talk! She doesn't speak a whole lot of Spanish (she's gotten a LOT better over the past few months), so when they announced that she would speak, I was super excited. She gets really nervous when she has to speak Spanish in front of people, so all of us missionaries in the conference were praying super hard for her. She nailed it. Afterwards, Elder Gallegos and I were running around trying to see which investigators came to the conference (there were a TON of people there), and Sister Egbert called me over in the midst of the chaos. "Is he ready?" she said in English. "My companion?" "Yeah, is he good to train?" "Oh yeah. He's more than good to train." "Perfect. We're not sure yet, but President's thinking about having him train this cycle." So... It's pretty much a 95% chance I'll have a second grandson in the mission tomorrow. Elder Gallegos is a champ, so he won't have any problems training. The genealogy I have in the mission will grow far and wide as I continue. Ah, the mission is grand. Hermana Damiana, one of our recent converts here in Presas, gave us the best quote ever this week. She's a great grandmother of 80 years old who was baptized in September against the rest of her family's wishes. She told us the other day that she was talking to one of her sons on the phone and he said, "I heard that you've changed." "It's not that I've changed," she said. "It's that I've grown closer to Heavenly Father." Ugh, she is the sweetest little old lady ever, and I shall miss her dearly. I've reflected on what she said quite a few times, and it really is true. Yes, the gospel changes us, but the reason it changes us is because we grow closer to our Heavenly Father. We become more like Him. The light in our eyes will grow brighter, and others will be able to see it more clearly. They'll notice the change within us, and will often ask about it. When they do, we can simply reply, "I'm growing closer to God. Would you care to join me?" And then quickly give said referral to the missionaries ;) It's so easy to be a missionary when we are examples of living what we believe. There is no need to fear or wonder what we should say. The Lord will give us the words. He promised to in Doctrine and Covenants 84:86. I have relied on that promise every day over the past 10 months, and the Lord will always come through for us if we come through for Him through small and simple means. Don't read your scriptures. Study them. Don't say your prayers. Pray. They're things so simple and yet so profound that we often take them for granted. Don't. Iré y haré, Elder Groesbeck It's been quite the stressful week this week. For the past three weeks, we've had the prospective baptisms of Osiris and Ingrid, and they've failed us each week with a different excuse or reason for which they couldn't be baptized. When they didn't come to church last Sunday, we decided that we are effectively going to start over with them, teaching them everything from the beginning. The missionaries that were here in Presas before supposedly had taught "everything", but we realized they didn't know that basics of the gospel. Hence, we're starting over, and we placed their baptismal date for the 7th of November. I probably won't be here in Presas at that point, but we'll see what Elder Gallegos can do. We just finished up his week 11 where he had to take the initiative in everything, and he totally nailed it. He told me afterwards that it was pretty stressful at times, and I was like, "I told you!" He learned a lot, though, and that's the whole purpose of week 11 in the training of a new missionary.
I said this week was stressful more for the fact that the Garcia family began to grow doubtful about their baptism. They all had received a testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel, but their grandparents began telling them things like, "if you get baptized, you won't be part of our family anymore." Yeah, it was THAT bad. Needless to say, the children began growing quite fearful that they would lose their family upon being baptized. Fortunately, having gained their trust through the process of our teaching them, they expressed to us said doubts. My brain immediately started running through the scripture mastery scriptures I learned back in seminary, and through a quite powerful lesson, we were able to resolve their doubts, and everything came out just fine. I may not have been a super huge fan of seminary back in the day, but it sure has come in handy when I need to bust out a scripture or two. In other news, I killed a tarantula the other day with Leticia, the flashlight-tazer that Elder Niro left for me. Elder Gallegos and I were helping a stranger move some dirt (yay service!) when I saw a semi-large and hairy tarantula next to my hand. Scared the Charles Dickins out o' me, that spider did. Fortunately, I had the ingenious idea to burn that sucker from the inside out with the awe-inspiring power of electricity. It was pretty great. As for the spiritual side of things for this week, I will start with an experience. Yesterday (Sunday), we had a grand feast in the home of some members, and they had invited several families to eat with us. They cooked a large pile of meat and served it out. I was one of the last to go back for more, and I found, to my dismay, only a small piece of pork left. I went ahead and grabbed it, slightly disappointed, but I said nothing as to the dying whale still found in my stomache. When Elder Gallegos and I had finished (still hungry), one of the sisters of the ward walked past, whispered to us "wait just a minute, Elders," and walked out the door. A few minutes later, she walked back in with a bag of tortillas and cheese, obvious that she had just bought them from the store. She then asked us how we wanted our quesadillas to be made. I was incredibly disappointed at what had just happened. Even after all the emphasis that the prophet and the apostles had placed on keeping the sabbath day holy, I still saw the same problem that has persisted since the beginning of time. I very frankly said, "The thing is, Sister Andrade, you just bought those on the Sabbath Day. Therefore, we won't eat them." Probably feeling a little bit bad, she went ahead and made them, serving a rather large pile on a plate and placing it in front of us, as if testing our resolve to not eat the condemnation that was the quesadillas. We casually pushed the quesadillas in front of us and continued to share a quick message with the two young men at our same table. One of them was the son of Sister Andrade, and he said, "my mom told us that if it's for the missionaries, it's okay to buy things on Sunday." I haven't the slightest idea who has been preaching such apostacy, but Elder Gallegos and I made sure to clarify why that was certainly not the case. As we continued sharing, one of the men there at the party walked up, and held a quesadilla in front of my face. "Elder, it's a quesadilla." "Yes, hermano. Yes it is." "You can go ahead and eat it." "No, hermano. No I can't. This was purchased on the Sabbath Day." He walked away, saying nothing more. After we had finished sharing with the young men, we said a quick prayer with them, told them not to eat the quesadillas, and walked out without an ounce of hunger or regret for what we had done. We were spilled spiritually for standing up for what we knew was right. It really was a great testimony builder for me, as it was always a little difficult for me back in high school to stand up firmly for my beliefs. I normally simply avoided the confrontation of the situation, but I certainly would not do it this time, especially when surrounded by people who knew the commandments and how to keep the Sabbath Day holy. It doesn't matter who we are, what we do, or in what circumstances we are found. If we know the commandments of God and have faith, we will keep them. Period. There is no if, and, or but. Keeping the commandments is the one and only way that we will recieve the blessings of the Lord. We know it, even if no one else does. Let us be examples to the believers, lights on a hill. Iré y haré. Elder Groesbeck This week has been quite stressful. We have some "eternigators" (investigators that for whatever reason just won't get baptized) that were finally going to be baptized this past weekend. Unfortunately, one of them had some... woman problems, and the other one neglected to tell us until Saturday morning that she needed to be in Pachuca the entire weekend. This is the 3rd time they've left us in the dust telling us that they're going to be baptized and don't come through. Elder Gallegos and I have decided we're going to start from scratch with them. There have been quite a few other missionaries that have been teaching them since about February, and they've been to church quite a few times. It has been brought to our attention, however, that they don't know some of the most basic elements of the gospel (for example, the Joseph Smith story and the restauration). At this point, their baptism would serve more for their condemnation than their salvation, and that is exactly the opposite of what we want. Therefore, we will start from scratch.
We're now entering into week 11 of Elder Gallegos's training, so he has to take the initiative in EVERYTHING for the week. I will simply be following him to make sure he can run the area and teach every lesson. I feel like he's already begun exercising a small amount of unrighteous dominion with his newly acquired authority, but I'll see if I can reel him in a bit and keep him on track. I want more grandchildren, darn it! This past week, everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) has been telling me I'll be a zone leader this coming cycle in two weeks. Last night, the Zone Leaders said that President Egbert, Sister Egbert, and the asistants all said it. I don't know if I believe them, but even less so, I don't know if I'm ready for such an assignment. I was just starting to get used to being a district leader! In accordance with what Dad sent me in his weekly email this week, we really never know where the Lord will need us to go or what He will need us to do. If He needs me to be rise to the challenge of a zone leader, I will do so, and I know He will help me the whole way through. I believe it will be rather similar to the changes meeting when I rose to be a district leader and trainer all at the same time. Such responsibilities (and I'll say challenges as well) have really helped me to come to realize my potential as a missionary and as a leader. I continue to realize said potential every day as I do the small and simple tasks that bring salvation to those around me. I know not what lies ahead, but I know there is light amid the darkness through the Lord guiding us all. As all of us confide in the Lord step by step, trusting that He will light the way before us, we will penetrate the darkness into the light that is Christ. There is no darkness so thick that the light cannot penetrate it. Iré y haré. Elder Groesbeck Was General Conference not the best this week!? There were some really great talks, and we had quite a few investigators come to the sessions. Due to the attendance of many of our investigators, we have 6 baptisms lined up for these next two weekends; two this Saturday, and four next Saturday. It's super great being able to work with families out here in the mission field, especially those as receptive as the Garcia family. They're so ready to be baptized! They couldn't come to church last weekend, but we still had to change their baptismal date. They were so sad when we had to push it back a week! They're the best! :D
In other news, Sunday was my birthday, and I had completely forgotten when I woke up. It wasn't until I got to church that I remembered. My conversation with a recent convert named Nadia went something like this: -"Elder Groesbeck! ¡Felicidades!" -"For what...?" -"It's your birthday!" -"Oh yeah! :D" I had wondered why my back hurt so much in the morning and why I found lots of white hairs on my pillow. We had a really nice Family Home Evening with a sister in the ward, and my birthday present was a new investigator: her husband. He's done some pretty not-smart things in his life including having a second family with a woman he's not married to, but he supposedly called his wife the other day saying that he wants to change, and he seems willing to do so. He seemed to be a little bit drunk when we talked to him, but I feel like it may just be his personality to slur his words when he speaks... it may be a long and rather strange process teaching him, but we'll see how it goes. Watching General Conference this weekend confirmed my dream to be a member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Every time they sang, I felt the Spirit so strongly, and I want to be able to do that for other people. My voice isn't qutie there yet, but I feel like with some practice and a bit more maturity, I can be refined enough to audition and become one of them... when I'm old enough and have the time and funds sufficient to travel the world with them... We'll see how that goes. I have to say that my favorite talk of General Conference was that of Elder Holland. That man is power, and I loved his dedication to the importance of the mothers of the world. I wholeheartedly testify of his words and am incredibly grateful for my mother and the incredible influence she has had on my life. Every time I play the piano for the members here in Presas, I think of her and her forcing me to continue practicing despite my resistance, promising me that I would thank her someday. I now do, and I don't hesitate to share the story with the members. When they ask me how I got my piano talent, I simply reply, "my mother." Thanks, Mommy! I miss you lots and love you even more! And on that note, iré y haré, Elder Groesbeck It's been quite the week of ups and downs. I'm a rather strange mixture of happy for the progress of some and extremely disappointed for the use of agency of others. I haven't much time, so I'll just say that of the 15 people (we counted) that accepted a baptismal date and said that they most definitely would be coming to church, 3 of them showed up. I've officially determined that there's a 1/5 rule in the agency of others. For all of the people we invite to church, 1/5 of them will actually show up. So basically, if I invite all of Mexico to church, a little more than the state of Hidalgo will show up. Challenge semi-accepted. Those that did show up are fortunately rather progressive and have friends that will keep bringing them to church and helping them to progress. We'll see how it goes.
We also found out that of our 3 possible baptisms this week, only one of them was actually going to happen... and it wasn't even going to count for us because no one told us that any 8 year old child is automatically the responsibility of the ward to baptize, even if his parents are less actives. LAAAAAAAME! It was still a great baptism, and the other two have their dates for October 10th now. Hopefully they come through this time... On the super bright side, we have interviews with President tomorrow, and it's always the highlight of... well, every 3 months. I have a list of questions to ask him, and I only have 15 minutes to ask them all. If there's anything I've learned this week, it's that Satan tries really hard to get us down sometimes. With everything that happened with our investigators not being in church, my bike breaking three times this week, and the baptisms falling through, Satan won a few battles in the depths of my soul. Satan is powerful, but I have also learned that God is much more powerful, and He will always prevail if we pray and ask for His strength. Despite the depressions of the week, we'll keep going and see what miracles we can find next week. Iré y haré. Elder Groesbeck |
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LEARN MORE ABOUT ELDER GROESBECK'S FAITHAuthorThis blog is edited by Elder Groesbeck's amazing, beautiful, younger sister Aubrie. I will post any update I get. Enjoy :) |