Week 3

It's P-Day!!
This week has been quite the adventure, where do I begin?

Elder Welch and I have been spending some good time in the Refferel Center this week and have talked to some pretty interesting people. First off, we talked to a guy who wanted to know why we know God exists and he's not something made up like Santa Clause. We never did convince him all we could do was testify, some people just can't understand the idea of faith.
Another interesting thing that happened at the RC happened yesterday. We ended up talking with a guy named Tyron. He's said he is about to get baptised but has some questions about the church and wanted to get a second opinion (rather then the Elders hes learning from) So he had a lot of good questions, questions about blacks and the curse, questions about homosexuality, and questions about sin. We talked with him for about 45 minutes just answering his questions. He wanted to learn more but we had to go. So we did what any missionary would do... set up a next appointment! That will be friday, hopefully we can help he better understand the importance of baptism.

We had our TA on saturday, this time we taught a young man named David. We first contacted him and got to know him in Spanish, then taught him the first lesson in English.
At first he couldn't understand the importance of families. We spent a lot of time on it, then finally my companion asked him what was important to him, he said hanging out with friends and being happy, my companion took that and turned it right back toward families and then it finally "clicked" for him.
The rest of the lesson was AWESOME! Elder Welch and I both agree it was probably one of the best we've taught.

We also have a "progressive Investigator" which means it's a teacher pretending to be an investigator and we wll teach her all up until we've "baptized" her. We didn't even finish the first lesson with Rachel, but we like having someone to plan a lesson around during companionship study. We'll teach her the rest of the first lesson tomorrow.

We finally had choir yesterday. YAY! Thanks for having Bro. Brenchely call me out... yeah...

The Gym opened yesterday which means a weight room and treadmills. Maybe I won't get fat here afterall. They do nothing but feed you then have you sit the whole day.

My companion is great! We do get into some arguments now and then, but it's about mainly how we handle things differently in certain situations. Like our non god beleiving friend. I wanted to be more offensive when he questions J.S. he wanted to be more Defensive. I actually like it, it shows he will voice his feelings and wont just let me run over them. He does say I talk a lot... oops.

I'm having a blast here, we had two missionaries from chile, and one from the DR join our floor last night. We wanted them to only talk to us in spanish, they only wanted to talk english. Even though their english is so much better then our spanish.
We also got a few missionaries from Hong Kong join us. They are here learning english, one of them kept asking us spanish words, saying he wants to learn spanish too! Ha ha, funny chinese missionaries.

I'm glad everything is good there, I hope everyone had a great memorial day. Way to read a poem dad! Tell everyone I love them and I'm having a great time. Everything they teach us, every speaker who talks to us, every time we teach, just gets us more and more eager to go to the field!

I was reading about peter denying christ thrice this week and came across a talk by president Hinckely. You should read it, it's so great!

anyway my time is almost gone, send more letters! I love hearing from you and sometimes can't wait til wednesday! ha ha.

Love you, miss you, pray for you.

Elder Groves

May 20th

Two weeks?! I've been here two weeks already? wow, the other Elders were right when they said the first three days are really slow, then the time flys!

Wow, this week has been awesome, a lot of cool teaching experiences and a lot of studying. We had our first TA (Teaching Appointment) which is when we teach an "Investigator" or really a member just pretending to be an investigator. It's really cool though because they aren't wearing a name tag so it's a lor different then teaching fellow missionaries. This time they feel more like potential converts. Anyway, for this one we had to do a door approach in Spanish to three different people then the last one, we taught them the first lesson in English. This was so much fun, we learned a lot. I felt the lesson went well and we did almost everything we should have. The only things we really messed up on were asking informitive questions. So more than just a yes and no question but a question that can let us know if they are understanding what we're teaching them. The other thing we messed up on were the commitments. We kinda asked all three in one question so we couldn't know which one she was saying yes to. Oh well, that's why were here to learn and to grow. aprender y progreso.

Spanish is coming well, I'm suprised to know how much I do right now. It will be fun to talk to the new district of Elders who come in our zone today, in Spanish to confuse and excite them.

I hope everything is going well at home, Mom I hope your show is going great! I'm sorry to hear about your brannegin. You seem to have bad luck like that with shows! Chiste. (Kidding) I can't wait to hear opening night! So how's is the home life Dad? What stupid things has marley done now? I love you very much and think about everyone all the time. All the Elders here want to write Elise, I just tell them they can... but she has a boyfriend they have to write to too.

Love you all! Thank you for the suppport and send more letters!! :)

Elder Groves

" The mission is not a sacrifice but an investment in the future"
Elder Nuenschwander of the Seventies.

One week down!

I'm here! I'm actually here! This place is so exciting frustrating and spirirtual all at the same time! My companion is Elder Welch from Cody, Wyoming. He has a little sister named Riley and constantly points it out to me. He's a really cool kid, we get along great.

The language is coming... yeah. I know how to pray and how to bear my testimony and that's about it. I'm supposed to be able to contact someone and invite them to recieve our message by the end of the week.

Yesterday was probably one of the worst and one of the best. I say one of the worst because one of our Elders in our district decided to go home. I don't know if he was really home sick or if he felt unworthy, either way we were all sad to see him go. Our branch president said that he will be coming back, just not to our district.

However, yesterday was awesome because we had a tuesday night devotional!! YAY! ok ok, so what's so big about a devotional? well we usually have at least a member of the seventy come and talk to us. every once in awhile we will get an apostle, but they had one last week so... we got.... Elder Russel M. Nelson. Everyone was suprised that we got two apostles right in a row.

I felt the spirit intensify the moment he walked in! He talked about how we need to be alert, and how we can share our message in just four words (three in spanish) "We Follow Jesus Christ". Segimos a Jesucristo.

They feed us really well here... almost too well. I have to watch myself and make sure I don't eat too much. They do give us Gym time, which helps a little... until my ankle gets bruised when I try and catch a softball with it, I guess I'll just have to use my mit next time.

I love it so much here and I am having a blast, the days seem like weeks but the weeks seem like days. Something that happened this morning seems like it happend last week, but something that happened last week seems like it happened yesterday. They keep us so busy and so occupied here. We plan out every hour of our day, and they make sure we have very detailed plans for every hour.

I'm a little dissapointed cause they are re-doing the floor of the gym. That means no basketball or choir til June. Oh well at least I'll get to use it sometime while I'm here.

I'm so excited to learn more and to be able to teach the good people of California. I love this place but I can't wait to leave and go preach the word! I love all of you and hope all your days are as exciting and full of the spirit. There's nothing better for a missionary here, then to recieve letters, so please write! You have to use DearElder.com though, cause we only get 30 min. on e-mail every day and DearElder delivers your letter the same day. Sorry you didn't get my letter til late, I hope you enjoyed it. I love all of you and I'm excited to hear from you.

Love. Elder Groves.

Well, here goes everything!

Tonight's the night! I will be set a part as one of the lords finest! I'm suited and armed to fight. I'm ready... kinda.

A few days ago if you were to ask me if I was nervous at all, I'd say "No way Jose!" (get it? Spanish speaking) Now... yeah, I am. I go into to the MTC tomorrow and am about to enter nothing I expect. I'm stoked! I'm ready to push my self the furthest I've ever gone. I'm ready to experience the greatest roller coaster as far as emotions go (at least that's what I'm told) I'm ready.

That doesn't mean I can't be nervous. By ready I mean, I'm as ready as I'll ever be. Nothing can fully prepare me for the journey I'm about to embark on. Nothing can get me ready to bear the hardships and trials that I'm about to face in the next two years.

I'm ready, I'm nervous, but I'm not scared because I know the lord will be with me every step of the way. He's been with me so far, no reason for him to back out now.

So this is goodbye... for now. Any posts from here on out will be one of my family posting something from my letters. I made a goal long ago that I will not be a facebook/blog missionary.

So to all my family and friends, thank you for your love and support, and god speed!

2 "dec-days"

Today marks twenty days and counting til lift off. I'm fully ready (except for the shots and some reading, but you can never be all the way spiritually ready) Nervous? NO!!! Excited some? Yes!!! wish I didn't have school so I could leave earlier. You bet your socks I do!

The beginning of the end.

Saturday is the start of the end. The end of my teenage years. It will be my last year as a teenager. Here are my teenage memories.

13: 7Th grade English class, Ms. Cox teaching. Neal Hovorka threw a paper dart at me, it landed directly into my tear duct, thus keeping it self sustained in my eye without pain. We kept it there for a couple minutes cause it was pretty cool!

14: Sitting on my parents bed, sobbing and hugging my family because we had just heard some terrible news about one of the greatest men to bless our family, the first time I had lost someone really close to me.

15: Soon to be a driver on the road, my friend Tyler Gaisford decided to teach me to drive a stick. I wrecked his T-bird! Totaled it! We lied to the cops so I would still be ably to get a license.We confessed the whole thing to our parents a week later. I got a $62 fine and a stern warning.

16: Having Carynn calling me in the middle of one of my classes to tell me to meet her downstairs, I went down not knowing what was going on. I found her in the hall her face smeared with tears, she hugged me, then told me that one of our friends had taken her own life the night before.


17: Was mentioned in the opening prayer of sacrament meeting, due to a head on collision I was involved in just outside the church. It happened right before church was to begin so the whole neighborhood saw Riley, his Dad, the Cops, and the wreckage as they were pulling in for church.

18: Moved away to college, found out a lot about myself, how I handle situations, and where I turn when I'm in need. Made a lot of new friends, and got called to serve in the LA California Spanish Speaking Mission for the LDS Church.

19: We'll just have to wait and see!!!

Switch blade?

I recently attended a church meeting where the speaker rambled on about switch points in his life. Apparently he had served in the same BYU Student stake for 11 years! He talked of how he being realesed is simply another switch point in his life. This got me to reflect upon my own life. I'm heading to one of the biggest switch points I will ever have.

I don't think of this as a "switch point" though. It's a switch BLADE. A point you see it coming and you gradually ease into the new curve of the twisting and widing track we call life. I may see this coming but there's no way I can gradually ease into leaving my friends and family for two years, learn a new language and go change people's lives.

This is a switch blade that will strike hard. I'm ready for some of it. I'm ready to try new things, as I like to think I always am and love to do it, this new thing though will be the hardest of my life. This is the switchblade into adult.

In two years I'll come back and be expected to actually do something with that life, I'll need to go to school, become somebody, do something that will somehow effect the world. I have to like it too or it won't get done.

I guess that is one of my greatest fears, returning from the field and finding out that the thing I want to do will not be the easiest thing or the highest paying or even the best to raise a family on. Family, I'm expected to have a family within the next five to ten years. Me a family?! Me getting married? I don't even think I look for a ring on the left finger when I see an attractive young lady, I guess I better start.

I'm about to see how quick this switchblade is. I have a few months and then it's off with my life!