May 27th 2013

Hullo mother... hullo father,

I love you guys a lot. do you ever get tired of hearing me say that? i hope not. 

I cannot believe emily already got back. what a trip. she was having a rough time in the MTC and i don't know how many times i meant to write her from the field. but you know how it is... p-day is the day you wait for the longest and passes the fastest. we get up, work out, prepare, and study until 11. we leave and send email. buy something to eat for lunch or make at home. we get home at 2 or 3 clean up the house, write some letters and before we know it we are putting the tie back on to go back to work. 

I have some personal goals for this transfer and until the end of my mission. There are some things that i would like to do. recently i have been thinking- i waited my whole life to be on my mission and here i am... but what have i done? what did i accomplish? at times this has been gratifying but at others it has been saddening and frustrating. On the search for perfection... hahaha. i am trying to find my joy in the journey :)

Last week we had a kid from the US, who got his visa late, arrive in the airport alone. He spent four months in alabama and he was fried. Me and elder alison went to the airport to pick him up and he was not understanding anything that anyone was saying. he looks like harry potter! he was pretty frustrated and he was sitting alone so me and the financial secretary sat and talked with him for a while. he was nervous, frustrated, and REALLY tired. we did our best to help him out and president and sister fernandes complimented him like crazy on his portuguese i think he is doing better now. 

We had a really special group arrive and we got to eat dinner with all the greenies. It was a real neat experience. We had a testimony meeting and the spirit was really strong, but subtle. and sister fernandes really really knows how to cook. oh my goshness!

You have to congratulate emily for me. im sure she was a great missionary. she has such a sweet spirit and i always admired her example. Her and matt george are my heroes. studs of the latter days.

Jake- you got brady's number, my attitude, and plenty of time to do work. Set goals! make plans to work out and be prepared for the season. if you want to be the best you have to work the hardest and have the most fun haha.

Gerrit- you rock bubba! I like samuel the lamanite too. way to go dood!

Levi- He is so wise... like a miniature budda with pasqueti hair :P way to help out momma leavers!

Momma- thank you for being so amazing. you are such an inspiration to me. Thank you for the counsel. that is exactly what i needed to hear! I want to be like nephi and i want to be a great missionary.

Amo vocês,

-élder Grondel jr.