February 18, 2013

One word- impressed,

Our family is changing for the better and progressing! That is what the gospel is all about! If i have learned one thing on the mission it is that we must always change and improve. We taught a lady yesterday who, rather sarcastically, asked me: "Do you really think that we need this book of mormon? isn't the bible enough? For me i am satisfied with the bible." ... Do we 'need' the book of mormon? what a funny question. I responded that it is not a question of need, but want. I WANT more words from my father. Imagine if Dad raised me until i turned 18, wrote me a big long letter, and said "well bryce, i love you so much that i wrote this letter for you. so when you need me you can read this letter and you will find the answers you need. i won't write more, i won't talk to you, but you'll know what to do. Good luck!" haha. God is MY heavenly father. He wants me to be happy and successful.

Our lesson on Sunday was about the spirit and following the promptings of the spirit. We are studying the life of lorenzo snow and i really am liking the manual this year. I liked the story of the two friends that saved his life by performing CPR in the 1860's... almost 100 years before CPR was developed by doctors and adopted by the medical community... Interesting huh? The Spirit teaches, reminds, and He guides.

I will be giving a training in our district meeting tomorrow about the importance of asking questions and i remembered a tuesday tip that dad sent me a little while ago. we have to ask brave questions that go beyond the surface. I am so greatful for you guys going above and beyond with quotes, scriptures, pictures... you guys don't have to send extra stuff but you do! i love you so much and hope that i can do the same for my investigators. Pray for Fabíola (Fa-bew-la) and Higor (Ee-gor) they will be baptized on Saturday! :)

The church is true!!!

Amo vocês,

-Élder Grondel jr.

February 11, 2013

O time bem amado,

I am glad to hear that everyone is doing so well. I worry about you sometimes and i want you to know that you have been included in my prayers. The Lord answers our prayers. I know that He does.

I had a dream that brady came to Florianopolis and i trained him in my last transfer... if everything goes as planned, the timing is perfect and this could really happen!

We had lunch with a "less active" family. they are more like slackers with testimonies you know? The oldest boy is 20 and is moving to São Paulo to play soccer professionaly- it is more like a minor league team, but he has made it clear a mission is the last thing on his list of priorities. His mom tried to blame the members, the bishop, and even the home teachers, but me and my comp, we did our best to defend everyone. The problem is dad likes soccer. he likes is so much that in his free time he works as a referee. but his free time includes sundays and more specifically sunday mornings between 9 and 12 (our meeting hours). They even have coffee in the house. And it isn't hidden, it is on the counter for everyone to see. I learned once again the importance of our example. We can't point and tell others where to go. We have to lead not with our finger, but with our body! If you drink coffee, don't go to church, aren't holding family night, and don't do family scripture study or family prayer... why would your son have any desire to serve a mission? It would be surprising if he did.

I have learned so much until now. I don't know where i would be or who i would be without my mission. We taught a family this week about baptisms for the dead and we taught them that their loved ones are not lost. and better yet, they can be the ones that rescue them! They can go to the temple and perform these sacred ordinances for their loved ones. The gospel is perfect. It changes people. we have a family we are reactivating and baptizing and it is amazing to see the changes! They have a light about them. We marked 2 visits with them this week and they both fell through because of sickness and scheduling conflicts. we werent sure if they would be at church, but sure enough they were there :) The church is true.

Amo vocês,

-Élder Grondel jr.

February 4, 2013

Family,

This week was amazingggg. This is probably the best week i have had as a missionary. Not because everything went my way, but because my faith is growing and the Lord was very much present in our day to day. I was able to accept the things that are out of my control, trust in the Lord, and keep moving forward. I can honestly say that i have never been happier than i am right now.
We did two splits with the elders quorum and we were able to teach WAY more people. We had some great visits and on sunday we saw the fruits of our hard work and patience. We have been working hard and we are trying to work smarter as well. We are teaching better, more clearly, and more direct.
The Lord is blessing us for our righteous desires and i am seeing now, more than ever, that the gospel is not a list of beliefs or rules, but a map to be successful and find happiness in this life. We all have problems, but as i was reading moroni 7 he taught that we must have faith, hope, and charity. But he doesn't just say faith. He says: "Faith in Jesus Christ." We must hope that through Christ we will be resurrected and that we will receive eternal life. So no matter what happens, no matter the problems that we face, we have hope. We understand the atonement of Jesus Christ. We know He wants us to be happy.We know that through Joseph Smith a fulness of the gospel was restored and we can find peace in the words of a living prophet.
I have learned to love the words to a hymn- Assombro Me Causa- which in english is: I stand all amazed. We can all change :)

Amo vocês,

-Élder Grondel jr.

Jan. 28th, 2013

Família querida,

Minha nossa senhora essa semana foi uma montanha russa de emoções! We had a great week that ended with a sour taste unfortunately. We worked really hard this week and with patience, the Lord has blessed us. We made a "plan of action" or game plan with Heavenly Father and as long as we are doing our part, He is doing the rest. We have some great investigators and some families are just falling into our lap. This sunday was probably the Best i have had on my mission. Our gospel principles class was full and i was very pleased with the attendance of less actives and investigators at church.

We had some more really neat experiences this week and one of our investigators is dating a guy who goes to utah valley and will move there in march so i will probably see her after the mission. cool huh? I am so glad that lexi is going to church! we are teaching a young gal who just turned 19... 2 weeks ago and she reminds me a lot of lexi. she knows the truth, but has struggled in the past to do what is right. almost everytime that we mark a visit with her... she is not there, or is leaving and we end up having to pass by later. But for some reason i felt obligated to persist and now i understand why. i believe that the Lord puts people in our path that are similar to our loved ones so that we can help them even thousands of miles away. when i teach Ana, i imagine lexi. when ana doesn't read, or go to church i didn't fail her, i failed lexi. You guys will understand better when you are missionaries. But this week we had a very touching visit with almost all our investigators and i really feel the Lords hand in our work. HE is the man! haha.

 

I love you all!

January 21,2013

Hey family,

I left my recorder at home so i will send you a recording next week, but i wanted to tell you guys about some really neat experiences this week. We are teaching a lady, stela, who is dating a member. He lives in the USA, but she will be moving there in march. they met when he came back to visit his parents and she is interested in the church, but this fool talked about some deep doctrine with her and created some serious doubts. At the end of a visit she expressed one to us about the sealing of a family. she didn't understand how you could be sealed in the temple for time and all eternity and then give up on that. how divorce would have power over that. We spent the week thinking about her and how to help. we planned the lesson, did some practices, feedback, and finally, the hour of the lesson arrived. we were nervous, but ready and guys... it was amazing, she asked the questions we had practiced and we were able to respond perfectly to her questions as we taught the plan of salvation. We teach her at the church and the member who we invited couldn't make it, but a member showed up after about 10 minutes. The spirit was strong and during the lesson this member bore her testimony of the gospel. Even better though, this member that showed up randomly? converted from the catholic church (stela was raised in the catholic church too...). The Lord is amazing.
We had another lesson with an awesome couple. José and Marisa. They understood the lesson and the spirit there was so sweet. I really love missionary work and at that house i was reminded why i do what i do. At the end of the lesson i was brought to tears as i invited them to church. José said the closing prayer and he really spoke with Heavenly Father. We all felt the spirit as josé opened up his heart and asked the lord to bless his family. through tears, he ended that sweet prayer. Truly humble and true to his word, he went to church and he really enjoyed it. He already made some friends too!
One more experience was with a companionship. They have not been getting along and it got to the point that one asked to transfer the other and one said he wanted to go home... what?! we were on a division when we discoverd this (me and my comp). we talked to the élders and i was amazed with the way we were able to handle the situation. I don't think i would have been so calm, mature, and unbiased before the mission. we sat down with the elders on the division and we were able to hear the two sides, counsel the two sides, and leave them better than we found them. We left them with a goal to start over. I have never felt the Lord guiding me like this before. I love it.

amo vocês,

-Élder Grondel

January 14,2013

Grondel,

 i had a really good week and i am really enjoying working here in this area. it has been almost a month, and i honestly feel like this is the best area i have served in. I also have a great companion, so that helps me out a lot. We are creating a pretty big teaching pool and we have established goals for the transfer and the nest transfer as well. i realized that i have not been myself lately, so this week i wanted to work on that. i suceeded and this week was actually a lot of fun. it's cool because i can say that now! the mission isn't just work and rejection. it's laughing, feeling the spirit, helping others, and so much more.

We have 2 baptisms marked and we are working with 3 more progressing investigators towards baptism as well. We are also working a lot with less active members here. What makes me really sad are the less active members. they are worse than semi pro football players- "back when i was in high school... in junior college...etc..." they say "o élder i always helped the missionaries, i visited 5-6 families that weren't on my list, i helped plan activities...." they USED to be is the problem. they used to feel the spirit, read the book or mormon, take the sacrament, go to the temple... what is going on? when did this become okay? i hear that they have testimonies, but i don't see it anymore. in their eyes it's as if a fire has diminished to nothing but smoldering ashes. i want to help sooo much and i get so excited on sunday, but they don't come :/

be active in your callings guys. go to the activities. support our ward. be your best and leave unto the lord the rest. HOORAH! (shoutout to joe stinton).

hugs and kisses,

-Élder Grondel jr.

January 7, 2013

beloved family,

i cannot believe that corynn already got back from her mission. i cannot even imagine all the changes. the world just keeps getting more complicated- brady in college, returned missionaries, weddings, and so much more is making life change completely. i feel like on the mission everything is still paused. 

 

i have had some cool experiences these last couple weeks-

1- we were walking on the road and an older guy with a 4-5 year old girl stopped us:

him- "hey elders how are you?"

us- "we're good. are you a member here? we still don't know everyone."

him- "Yes, but i live in rio grande do sul. im just here visiting this little one"

me- (speaking to the little girl) "what is your name? (stéfani) nice to meet you stéfani. are you having fun on your walk with grandpa?"

... him- "im here father..."

me- "oh... :)..."

2- we made a contact and the lady invited us in. we sat down and a guy came into the living room:

us -"how are you?"

him- "i'm good thanks! how are you young men?"

us- "we're doing well. im élder grondel and this is élder emerson"

him- "nice to meet you my name is alexandre"

me- "right on. so alexandre you live here with your mom?"

him- (a little confused) "my wife."

me- "... so have you... like... uhh... lived here... for a long time?" ... :)

it just goes to show that we need the spirit to discern. am i right?

So we have been working a lot here with less actives and we went to a house this week and met a family that seems very solid and very much okay. as we continued talking, the story unraveled ( gosh i hope i spelled that right). This lady was t - oed feel me? the church nearby is under construction so everyone has to go to the stake center (7-10 minutes in the car... and a bus passes every sunday too). she said she wasn't going because the church was far and she was tired. then i asked, if the church wasn't being renovated would you go? she said yes, but the husband was hesitant. we continued talking and that is when she opened up. she said she doesn't want to go the stake center because their are people there she doesn't want to see, things happened in the leadership, and their are too many fake people. she talked about wonderful people in other churches and how it would be better to be in one of the humble churches closer to home with REAL people. she went on and on about how the true church shouldn't have jack mormons or pride. then she went on to say: "on judgement day God isn't going to ask if you were a mormon because if He only means to save the mormons, he will save less than 5% of the population."

--> you guys asked- "what is one of the coolest experiences that you have had on the mission?" this is one of them^ because my companion and i were cool, calm, and collected. we were able to respond with power, with authority, and we were literally lead by the spirit. i have never felt something like that before the mission. we were able to answer and make them think. we called them to repent. we didn't defend ourselves, we defended the Savior and His church. Some of the best experiences have occurred during rejections because we were able to bear testimony of truth. bear testimony of the book of mormon. bear testimony of joseph smith and the power of prayer. i know that the church is true. and i know that my redeemer lives.

i love you guys so much!

-Élder Grondel jr.