Good Things are Happening

Seeing all of you on Christmas was awesome! I loved hearing Grandpa´s song [Sophie and Mecham wrote a song for Grandpa's funeral]. The members here thought that the snow was amazing. I don't think that they have ever seen it so up close and real (well, as real as it can get using a computer screen).

The rest of the week was normal. M** is really excited for her baptism. We talked with her sister-in-law yesterday and her daughter-in-law today and they both told us that she is soo happy and ready. Saturday can't come quickly enough. Oh, and she invited us to eat lunch on Friday. Can't say that an investigator has ever done that yet. She's great and very prepared.

Quick story. I'm pretty sure that I've told you about A** and his son, A** J**, and how the dad hasn't let his son get baptized because he wanted to baptize him but at the same time he said that he didn't believe in the church. Well, yesterday we went over to his house to talk with him about baptizing his son because he has been going to church regularly and is striving to change. As we were talking with him, I saw the Spirit touch him a little (even though it wasn't that spiritual a moment) and he decided to change his plans/goals and to baptize his son on the 10th! WOOT!

I'm really happy because I told the mom that before I leave her son would be baptized and now it's going to happen on the last week of the change! Pray for them. He's trying really hard to overcome his bad habits and needs all of the heavenly help he can get.

Love you all!

Elder Groneman

 

Missionary Concert on the beach

Me with J** F**. Hes the one that I helped activate in Huanhualí. He's leaving on a mission soon!

 

I will now be returning home on July 12 (or something like that). Just in case you're wondering.

So I don't have much time to write because once again we had to travel. Not to Viña but to Villa Alemana! We had a Mission activity for Christmas with 4 other zones! It was great! I'll tell you more about it next week or on Friday!

 

Quick story. Sunday was the last Christmas concert and while we were there I saw my 2 favorite families in the whole entire misión! La familia B** and La Familia F** M**! They are from Huanhualí (my first área). Let's just say that I was extremely happy. I activated and baptized Los F** M** and yesterday they told me that the mom just went through the temple and received her endowments and J** (oldest son) received his misión call to Mendoza, Argentina! He leaves January 28th so it was awesome that I got to see him one more time before he left.

 

M** PASSED HER BAPTISMAL INTERVIEW!! After 5 months she will be baptized! We had to move her date a bit because she received a notice from her husband that he wasn't going to make it for Christmas but was going to be there for New Years. She will now be baptized on January 2! Pray that it happens!!

 

Oh,I  don't know if you've heard but the time for native speakers in the MTC has changed from 2 weeks to 3 weeks. Due to that, all of our return dates have changed. I will now be returning home on July 12 (or something like that). Just in case you're wondering. The office wanted all of us to tell our families that like a month ago but I've forgotten every week until now. Just so you know.

 

I'll be skyping around 3:30 here but it may happen between 3 and 4 depending on how the technical difficulties go because there always seems to be something that goes wrong.

 

See you all then!

Elder Groneman

 

ps: thanks for the boxes! My comp is really happy. He says that he's never gotten so many presents in his life.

 

Pics next week (no time right now)

Interesting week.....

This week was.......interesting.

I worked in 2 sectors this week. Monday, Tuesday, Saturday, and Sunday we were in Cabíldo. Everything normal there. Wednesday to Friday we were in Viña. My comp had choir practices so because our sector is so far away from Viña and it's really expensive to make the trip, we just stayed with the mission secretaries. During the day I worked with Elder B** in his sector in Viña. I've decided my mission is just full of random opportunities to work in random areas.

It was awesome working with him. We gave away a lot of BOMs and taught a few people as well. I'll send a pic of a view from one of the house we were in. It's an amazing view of Viña! Gotta love Chile.

Even though we had only a little bit of time to work in our own sector good things still happened. M** IS GOING TO BE BAPTIZED!!!! After 5 months of teaching her and being in every single lesson, she finally accepted a baptismal date!!! She talked with her husband about her baptism and he also wanted to be present (which is why it's taken so long) so she asked when he was going to be home. He's going to be in Cabíldo for Christmas and New Years (which is a miracle because he's never been in town for the both) so we automatically placed the date for the 27th! She is soo happy! Please pray for her! She's been waiting for sooo long!

That was easily the highlight of the week. But other good things happened too. There's a little 9 year old kid -  J** - who really wants to be baptized but his inactive dad - A** - didn't give him permission when he was 8 because he said that he wanted to baptize him but also that he didn't believe in the church. Doesn't make sense, right? He says that he doesn't believe in the church but then he says he wants to be the one to baptize his son which means that he does believe. Ya, I'm confused, too. Anyway, A** has now changed in the blink of an eye. He is now going to church every week and is trying to stop swearing. He even has an awesome idea for an activity in which to invite every investigator and inactive member. Él tiene tanto ánimo! (sorry, there's not a word in English that translates well.) We have resumed teaching J** and are hoping that his dad feels ready to baptize him. Just a little bit more and he will be!

As for this next week I have no idea what is going to happen with me. My comp has to be in Viña from Wednesday to Monday morning and this time I won't be with him. They still haven't told me if I'm going to be with another elder whose comp is in the choir, with the elders in the sector next door to mine (by next door I mean 30 minutes in bus), or with my ZL whose comp just ended the mission. So ya...this week is going to be interesting. But it's all good. Whoever I'm with is going to get to know Cabíldo because I will go there to work. I am not going to lose 5 1/2 days in my area. Maybe we can do a half and half thing....we'll see what happens.

Today I'm also in Viña. (can I just change my sector to here?) My comp has to do the paperwork for his 2nd visa. I am seriously a master at this paperwork thing. With every single companion, I've had to do it. I don't even bother looking at the instructions anymore. I also end up guiding like 4 other missionaries every time, too. Ya, I've done this way too much....

So ya. That's about it. I still don't know about the time schedule for the Skype call. The member that we are going to do it with wasn't in church yesterday because they had to go to San Felipe. I'll tell you as soon as I know.

When telling someone the time, always check it twice before you tell them. You can really ruin someone's day if you get it wrong. (yes, this is speaking from experience....)

LOL (lots of love ;P)

Elder Groneman

 

PS. So the computer is being dumb and isn't recognizing my camera. I'll have to send you the photos later. Sorry!

Changes! Not.

Changes!!!!

I stayed! And my comp left! Haha ya, we weren't expecting that at all. It was deja vous for him because that is exactly what happened the first time he was here. So ya, I'm still in my 3rd sector. Three sectors with 6 months in each. That definitely doesn't happen that often. I've only heard of 1 other missionary with that situation - and only because he asked for it. It's all good though. Looks like I still have work to do here in Cabíldo.

My new comp is Elder P** from Samoa. He actually lives in the States now but lived most of his life on the island. We get along really well because we both love music. We usually are walking down the street singing or whistling and making random harmonies. It's great. He's in the mission choir so when we have time I help him with his music because he doesn't know how to sight-sing and he struggles with parts.

As for the Skype call on Christmas, I have no idea when we are going to do it. I imagine that it'll happen at like 4ish here so at like 1 there (if I remember right you're 3 hours behind). I'll keep you posted on that.

Overall this week was slow. Everyone here is about to get out of school so all of the parents are ALWAYS in meetings. It's crazy how many meetings they have here! Due to that we barely taught anyone because well, they were never home! This week will be the same (if it goes the same way as last year). BUT it is okay because it is during these times when we usually find the best investigators. No one else wants to talk to you or open their door so if they do it means that they are willing to listen and probably ready to accept the restored gospel. I'm looking forward to those moments this week!

So yeah, that's my life right now. Working like a missionary. Life's good.  :)

Elder Groneman

October Zone Conference [Elder Groneman is on the second to last row, leaning forward]