Hellooooooooooo!!

This week has been ever so lovely!

Last Wednesday, we had a mission conference with Elder Ochoa, First Counselor in the Central America Area Presidency.  It became a discussion of faith, and how faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the base of everything we do.  It was also Sister Marley's birthday (one of the sisters who lives in our house) so we had a party!!  It was so much fun.

Saturday was a very interesting day.  We went to ask references from a family, and their youngest daughter gave us the name of one of her classmates.  Well, this same day, we went to visit this reference.  It turned out to be a part member family that recently moved and want to learn more of the gospel.  Also, their sister-in-law is currently serving a mission in Peru.  I cannot help but feel this reference was an answer to the prayers of this faithful missionary.  We are so excited to continue teaching them.  :)

That same day, we went to visit another less-active family, and encountered his brother.  As we began speaking to him, we found out that he was baptized several years ago, but he had withdrawn from the church and is currently un testigo de Jehová.  My heart dropped.  We tried to bring the spirit into our conversation, but he only wanted to contend with us.  I could not feel the spirit at all.  Finally, we asked if we could sing a hymn with him.  He flat-out refused.  It was as though he was afraid of feeling the Spirit again.  Listening to him, he only sounded more confused and unsure of his standing than he claimed to have been before.  He began saying maybe we'll understand when we need something more, but I will never understand what that feels like.  I KNOW where I stand, and I know with all of my being, with all that I am, that this is the true, everlasting, and full gospel, doctrine, and church of Jesus Christ.  There is NOTHING that can take that testimony from me.  I know because I asked.  And God answered me.  I know He will answer each of you.  I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, that Thomas Spencer Monson is His living prophet hoy en día, and I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior, my Redeemer, my Lord.  I wish I could have shared that with this hermano.  All I could do was cry, for my heart hurt so much knowing he was so lost.  But hope is never lost, as he said himself, perhaps one day he will return to the truth.

Sunday, during the third hour, we didn't have a class.  We all left in pairs to go and visit someone who had not come to church that day so we could share with them how much we love and miss them.  It was so special.  I kept thinking about the Martin and Willie Handcart companies, when the prophet Brigham Young suspended General Conference to send out rescue teams to help those poor saints on the plains.  Said he: That is my religion; that is the dictation of the Holy Ghost that I possess, it is to save the people. . . . This is the salvation I am now seeking for, to save our brethren that would be apt to perish, or suffer extremely, if we do not send them assistance. [JD 4:113]
He then called on the bishops for sixty good mule teams, twelve or fifteen wagons, forty teamsters, twelve tons of flour, and other supplies; then he said:

I will tell you all that your faith, religion, and profession of religion, will never save one soul of you in the celestial kingdom of our God, unless you carry out just such principles as I am now teaching you. [And then I believe he must have said this with all the fervor of a prophet:] GO AND BRING IN THOSE PEOPLE NOW ON THE PLAINS. (see http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=961)

Other than that, it's just been working, loving, serving, learning, and a whole lot of laughing.  I love you all so very much. :)

LOVE,
Hermana Grondel :)

MUNDIAL

Pues.

Just another week working and sweating and enjoying good ol' Honduras!!

El fiebre de Mundial has overtaken the country, and us too!  Last Sunday, we had to stay inside for a couple hours because Honduras was playing.  Friday, we only worked until 4 and then stayed inside for the rest of the day for the same reason.  It gets a bit crazy here during futbol games.  So, we received permission to watch ONE soccer match of the world cup, and it had to be on a Monday, so this morning we watched Holland vs. Chile.  OHhhhhh man, it was so intense!!  This morning we bought Soccer jerseys to use during the game.  I was rooting for my roots, and they did not disappoint!!  HOLANDA!!!!!!!!!!!!! They won 2 - 0.  My jersey, which is from Holanda, is number 11, Robben.  It was awesome.

Thursday and Saturday this week, it rained a bunch, and the power went out, so we had to go back to the apartment.  Saturday, we were in divisions (I was with Hermana Marley!!).  Hermana Marley had an umbrella, but it was raining so hard, it didn't make much of a difference.  Plus, at one point, I crossed the street, but Hermana Marley did not, so I was left without an umbrella.  I became rather soaked, and I loved it. :)  I started singing on the other side of the street, waiting for her.  I made it through "Singing in the Rain" and was halfway through "Raindrops keep falling on my Head" when she made it to the other side. We saw someone with her daughter under a tree, hugging each other to try and stay warm as they waited for the bus.  We went over to them and offered to share our umbrella with them as we waited for the bus.  When we first asked them, the look of surprise and shock on her face left me wanting to laugh and cry at the same time.  Laugh because of her shock, cry because she was shocked that someone would be so nice.

Sunday was a day of miracles.  We were able to meet wonderful new people, a member joined us to visit people, we had ward council, and I got to play the piano in church!!  That is always one of my favorite parts of Sunday.

This week we received the Liahona from May, and I am thoroughly enjoying reading the General Conference talks in English!  It is always lovely to read them and understand what they were really saying in General Conference.  My Spanish has improved drastically, but reading in English is still easier to understand. :)

Well, I'm not sure what else to write, but I love you all bunches and bunches!!

LOVE,

Hermana Grondel :)

P.S., Sorry I haven't sent photos in a while, the computers I have been using have not permitted me to upload photos.  Hopefully in the future!!

Castaños

SO MUCH HAS HAPPENEDDDDDDD.

Monday night, we received a phone call saying that I would be leaving Puerto Cortés.  Many emotions filled my heart.  I love Puerto Cortés, and Tuesday showed me that they truly love me as well.  As I began packing, we received a text message saying I would be training!!!  AH! Hahahaha, at nine months, I have my first daughter, hahaha :)

Tuesday was spent saying good-bye to all the wonderful people I have met and loved in Puerto Cortés.  Many tears were shed, and I felt an immense love from this people.  Saying good-bye to Tiara and Yolany and Rodolfo was rough. They didn't want me to go, nor did I want to leave, but such is mission life. I dearly hope I can come back one day.  They are the sweetest family, and I will never forget them.  At night, we went to Hermana Mery's house where they had a piñata and a good part of the ward there to say good-bye.  I felt so loved.  I do miss Puerto and I miss Hermana Luna.  She was an incredible companion and is an incredible missionary.  She taught me how to become the missionary I want to be, and she has become a close friend.  I'm going to be doing a LOT of world traveling after this mission to visit these marvelous people I have met in Honduras.

Wednesday morning we arrived at El Benque building for la reunión de cambios. During the trainers meeting that take place before the normal meeting, Presidente accidentally let it slip who I would be training...and then Hermana Luna let it slip to my companion...hahaha...whoops... :)

Well, I am currently in the Castaños ward, and I am finishing up the training of Hermana Robles, from Peru!!  Hermana Robles has already been here 6 weeks, so I am her stepmother because her trainer, Hermana Bayles, went home this transfer.  IT IS SO MUCH FUNNNN. Hermana Robles is also the mission nurse, so we spend some of our time on the phone talking with sick missionaries or going to doctor's appointments.  It's pretty rad. :)  I have ALWAYS wanted to be the nurse's companion, and now I get to train her too!  She is a certified nurse and worked as one for 4 or 5 years before her mission.  She just turned 27, so it's as though I have Jessica for a companion!!  I love it. :)

Oh, plus we live in an appartment with two other sisters, so every day is a partayyyy.  I couldn't be happier. :)

These days I've just been getting to know the area and getting to know new people, so that's fun.  Yesterday, one family invited us to their house for dinner, and I thought we had taken a short plane ride back to the U.S. because their house was huge.  And so nice.  And so lovely decorated.  WE EVEN ATE ROLLS FOR DINNER.  Needless to say, I am thoroughly enjoying mission life. :) hahahaha

El Mundial es LOCO aquí!  Everyone is celebrating or dressed in soccer jerseys.  And every single TV is turned to that channel.

WELL  I love you LOTS!!

LOVE,
Hermana Grondel :)

A week of miracles

I am absolutely exhausted.

But happy. :)

This week has felt like a century.  I cannot believe only one week has passed.  

Well, this week has been all over the place.  As we were walking home one night, and random couple stopped in front of us.  I was delightfully surprised to discover it was Gabriel and his wife, an investigator from my last area!!!  He was very excited to tell me he had been baptized and now lives here in Puerto!  It was a testimony to me that no effort is wasted. :)

Saturday was a BEAUTIFUL day!!!  One of our investigators, Tiara, got baptized!!  Truly, Tiara and her family are such a blessing.  They are changing the ward!  Our ward is becoming more and more animated and involved in the work of salvation.  It is a lovely thing to see.  Hermana Luna and I sang "A Child's Prayer" for her baptism.  One of my favorite parts of the day was a little before Tiara's baptism.  She had just changed into her white clothes and felt so nervous, so we decided to kneel down and say a prayer.  Tiara offered it, and it was so sweet and pure.  Another favorite memory would be right after the ordinance, when Tiara entered the bathroom and started jumping up and down saying "!!!ya me bautizé!!! ¡¡ya me bautizé!!" (I got baptized!!)  Her joy radiated from her.  It was awesome.

Yesterday was her confirmation, and we waited not so patiently for her to arrive.  They came late, but they came.  The bishop confirmed her and gave her the sweetest blessing.  I love them so much.  Her face glowed when he finished!   Hermana Luna and I gave talks as well.  It went MUCH better than last time.  I spoke on the talk "Ye are no More Strangers" from the October 2013 General Conference, and I enjoyed it immensely.  I even got to talk about Les Mis!  Plus, Yolany, Tiara, Holly, Jorge, and Hna Luna sang a song and I accompanied them.  It was marvelous. :)

We went to Young Women's yesterday with Yolany and her mom (the mother and abuela of Tiara) because the presidency was going to present her with the torch medallion.  Well, they decided to do it at the end, so we sat in on their lesson.  One of the YW taught the class on Priesthood keys.  The class was prepared quite well, and towards the end, Alejandra (la jovencita teaching the class) asked if anyone had an example or experience they wanted to share.  Hna. Yolany raised her hand and asked if she could share something.  She then proceeded to share the experience we had last Saturday, when the bishop went to give a blessing to Rodolfo.  She testified of the power and reality of the priesthood and also testified that it was by this authority that her daughter, Tiara, was baptized the day before.  We were over the moon.  Yolany has a baptismal date for the 20th of June. :)

Well, Saturday night as we were planning, we realized we would need to work some serious miracles to reach our goals for the week.  Besides a large number of lessons, we also needed to find 7 new investigators.  I looked at the numbers and said, "We can't do this.  It's impossible to achieve this on a Sunday."  Hermana Luna just looked at me and said "Never say 'I can't' or 'we can't'.  Have faith".  Well, we put our fears and doubts aside and and prayed fervently to do the Lord's will the following day.  Well, not only did we acheive our goals, we surpassed them.  We ended up doing very little of what we had planned, but I know we did what the Lord wanted, and I know it was because of our faith.  Faith is powerful and works miracles!  Coupled with our determination to work and be diligent, it has brought many miracles to our area.

Funny story: We were trying to take pictures before the baptism, and I completely biffed it!!  I'm still not sure exactly what happened.  

OH!  Also, we have found a man that sells real milk!  From real cows!!  It is Oh so delicious!!!

Here is a joke I learned yesterday:

So, there once was a turtle who was queen of the animals, and she made a new decree.  All of the animals had to present themselves before her and tell a joke, and if she did not laugh, they would be beheaded.  

Well, first came a monkey.  He told his joke, and.....nothing.  They carried him off to the guillotine.

Next came a squirrel.  But his comical impressions did not bring a single chuckle from the queen.  So he was executed.

Third came a puma.  But the turtle remained completely emotionless.

Finally came a lion.  After his joke, the turtle began to laugh very slowly: ha ha....ha ha.....ha ha

"Phew!! I'm saved!!" thought the lion.

" I like the monkey's joke!" said the queen turtle.


ahahahahaha!  Because turtles are slow!!!  hehehehe, I think I overly enjoy this :)

Anyway, I love you all so much!! 

LOVE,
Hermana Grondel :)

P.S., so sorry, I cannot send photos.  HOpefully next week!!

Through Cloud and Sunshine

SOOOOOOOO.

It's June.  WHAT.

This week has been wonderful.  I feel like it has been months since I wrote.

The Lord has been listening very closely to our prayers this week.  We were able to reach or surpass almost every single one of our goals.  We are so grateful for that.  Wednesday, the Sister Training Leaders came for divisions!!  I went with hermana Zelada, from Guatemala, and we had a blast!  We were literally dying of laughter the entire day. She taught me a lot of how to help our area here in Puerto.  That night, we had a PARTAYYYYYYYY!  We have three matresses in our apartment, so we put the three together and the four of us slept there.  We also learned how fun it is to jump on the matresses, hahaha!  I love the sister training leaders.  They are always here to help us.

Saturday, we went with the elders to a part-member family to do some service.  This service included taking partly-decomposed clothing out of a swamp.  I think this tops the list of most interesting service projects.  I hope to never smell that again, hahaha.  Well, our investigator from this family came to church on Sunday!!! Next step, reactivating her daughter!!

In the afternoon, we received a phone call saying that Rodolfo, the little brother of Tiara, was in the hospital with Dengue.  We had been planning to have a Family Home Evening with them and the bishop's family, so we changed our plans and went over to the clinic where he was staying.  The bishop came and gave him a blessing.  It was a very special moment, seeing the bishop take our investigators under his wing.  Truly, what we do as missionaries doesn't mean anything if these brand-new members don't have a hand to hold of a friend in the ward who will help them along as they learn about their new life.  Now we know that the Bishop and his family will always be mindful of this new family.  The following day, Rodolfo was MUCH better, and they even released him from the hospital!

Sunday was a bit rough.  I have worried and wept and prayed about this area so much, and at times I feel as though Satan has such a strong grasp on the people here.  Of our investigators who are progressing, half of them were sick, some had to go visit families, and others had their difficulties.  Satan works so hard to prevent these people from coming unto Christ.  Sometimes he tries to work on us as missionaries.  On Sunday, our bishop invited us to go to the Ward Council Meeting.  I felt like the Lord answered so many of my prayers and fasts in that meeting.  I know this area will be alright and that the Lord will never let it fail.  I know the Lord answers prayers because He has answered mine.  Even when the night has seemed darkest, He always brings the dawn.

Well, I love you all bunches and bunches!!

LOVE,

Hermana Grondel :)

P.S., I'm not sure how much time I'll have next week, so if I don't write, don't worry.  I'm still alive, hahaha :)