We finally did it! We got an investigator to church! I'll talk more about that for the investigator of the week, but I just had to start off by giving the highlight of the week. I don't really have much intro to do, so I'll just jump into the adventure of the week. I believe that last week I mentioned something about us taking care of the new missionaries that came in. Well, the adventure of the week happened right after I typed up and sent my last blog post. Elder Hixon and I went on splits with the young'ns, and it was actually quite fun. I let Elder Hixon take our actual set appointments so that I wouldn't accidentally screw up someone's concept of the gospel with my incomplete Spanish and Elder Fox's very broken Spanish. So Elder Fox and I went contacting to see if we could get a Harvesting Blessing or something of that sort. We contacted a ton of people, but it was pretty late Monday night, so every was either like, "No," or "come back some other time." So we basically walked around the neighborhood a lot while I did all of the talking. I was actually quite amazed with my abilities to communicate and understand people without Elder Hixon there to help me. Sure, there were some things I didn't quite get, but it was still a pretty neat experience. It was pretty cool to have something so seemingly important entrusted into my 7-week-old hands. I most definitely couldn't do that all day every day (yet), but for those 3 or so hours, it was pretty fun. The investigator of the week award once again goes to Paola Torres because she's just such a champ. She was our investigator that came to church, and she's so flippin' ready for her baptism! She has the date set in her phone calendar and everything. She even dropped her insane addiction to coffee like it was nothing (although she says she's been a little hysterical at times), and her boyfriend's parents (who are all members) are already preparing a meal afterwards, and it's just gonna be a great filppin' day! Ugh, I can't wait! My spiritual thought for the week has to do directly with Paola. Elder Hixon and I had been having a really hard time the first 5 weeks here finding people that were actually ready to receive the gospel and follow through with their commitments. It was a little tough, but we decided to keep being diligent and obedient, and we kept working. Finally, after 5 weeks of hard work, our blessing came in the form of Paola, and she has made it all worth it. She's so ready to receive the gospel, it's not even funny. This experience has just really strenthened my testimony of the importance of constant diligence and obedience. To paraphrase a quote from Jeffrey R. Holland, some blessings come soon, some blessings come late. Some blessings don't even come until after this life, but for those who are diligent in the work of the Lord and in keeping His commandments, the blessings will come. All we have to do sometimes is be patient and put all of our trust in him. It's been an amazing 7 weeks thus far in the mission, and I can't wait to get out there and learn more. Iré y haré. Elder Groesbeck Q&A with Elder Groesbeck (questions by Aubrie, his sister, and the cutest one in the family) 1. In Texas our road kill is normally possums and armadillos, what is the road kill in Pachuca? The other day, Elder Hixon and I actually saw a decapitated cat in the middle of the freeway... But other than that, we haven't really seen a whole lot of road kill out here. 2. What is your favorite memory of your companion so far? How much longer does he have left on his mission? He has five weeks left. At this point, I just have favorite memories of my mission just because my adventures with Elder Hixon have been the only adventures I've known on the mission. Our district just changed and he was just made the district leader. The other missionaries in our new district are the assistants, and we never really see them much. 3. Most girls at my school wear their hair long, how do the kids wear it there? The hair styles here are actually really similar to those of the US; you have your long hair, your short hair, and your just plain weird hair that you see every once in a blue moon. 4. What is the cutest dog you’ve seen? Does everyone own a Chihuahua? OH MAH DANG! There was this one house we went to try to contact, and when we rang the doorbell, the most adorable tiny beagle came running up to the gate with these huge ears flopping around; I went to pet it, and it immediately rolled onto its stomach so I could pet its tummy. UGH! SO CUTE! Chihuahuas are definitely the most common type of dog that I've seen, but there is every kind of dog imaginable and more that live on the streets here. 5. What color is your toothbrush? Are you brushing your teeth? My toothbrush is... white...? I think... I promise I use it, though! 6. What is the most popular kind of car? Have you been allowed to ride with any members? The cars here are pretty similar to those in the US as well, but I've seen a LOT of older models of bugs here. The members will sometimes give us rides to/from church, but we have bikes and don't really need many rides. 7. Do they have malls? Have you gone to any? Yes, and yes, actually. My second, week we went to a mall to get some random stuff we couldn't find at a conventional grocery store. 8. You said your investigators are not coming to church on Sunday, are the people there religious? Do they go to other churches? Are there a lot of other church buildings near you? Are most people Catholic or have you seen other religions? Probably about 80% of the people we contact are "Catholic" meaning they have Catholic beliefs, but they don't go to church or anything. There's actually a church for the Testigos de Jehová (Jehovah’s Witnesses) in our area, so we see their missionaries every so often and have an illegitimate turf war. We're winning. 9. Is there a girl my age in your ward (remember I am 14, born 1n 2000) that would be interested in being my pen pal? Do you think you could find one for me? I am going to take Spanish 3 next year so I know a little Spanish, but it would help if she knew a little English. That's a good question... I don't really know how to work that out given the inconsistency of the mailing system, but I can look around. We hardly know any of the young women in the ward, but I'll see what I can do. Mail takes a bit of time. A letter you wrote me back on January 3rd just arrived this week. 10. What is your favorite lesson to teach? I actually really like teaching lesson 1. We've just done it so many times that I know how to make a transition to the next point from anywhere in the lesson. Having the first vision memorized is also pretty cool; you should do that if you haven't yet.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
LOCATE ELDER GROESBECK!SCROLL DOWN TO SEE THE LOCATION ON MAP WHERE ELDER GROESBECK IS CURRENTLY SERVING IN MEXICO.
Archives
September 2016
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 :) |