Tender Mercy‏

Well the moment you've all been waiting for and I've been dreading...haha I don't have very much to write this week and I'll see you all on Thursday but I just want to say that I am sooo grateful for all of you that have written me throughout my mission and given me the support and comfort that was often greatly needed. I have loved every moment here and even though there were times when I was not sure how I was going to continue or even survive for that matter haha I consider my entire mission one big Tender Mercy from the Lord. My life has been forever changed and hopefully I was able to help change the lives of others while I was here. I know that this is only the beginning and I hope this was just the training ground for whatever else the Lord has planned for me. Again I want to thank all of you for your testimonies and for sharing them with me. I feel so incredibly blessed. I told my Bishop yesterday I don't know what line I stood in while in heaven but for some reason I think I am definitely the Luckiest Girl on Earth! I will see you all on Thursday and I can't wait to see what lies ahead! Halong kamo pirme!

Always,
Sister Grant

Mountain of the Lord......

So this week was great! We had so many teachings and got so much work done! Not to mention we got to go to Sagay and watch the Cebu City Cultural Event which was sooo awesome! They had youth groups from all over the visayas and Mindinao stakes preform traditional filipino dances and songs! oh you know I was loving ALL OF THAT! they even did a little segment about the American Soldiers in WW2 coming over and teaching them how to "swing" there was about 50 filipino boys and girls doin the twist and the mash potatoe in the middle of the stadium all wearing poodle skirts and what not ahaha I thought I was gonna die laughing when they zoomed in on one boys face while he dipped his partner and swung her around haha he was so into it! Oh it was so great. Pres Monson was just grinnin from ear to ear. He was on the stage laughin so hard. We had 2 of our youth age investigators come with us and they enjoyed it so much I think they saw how fun all the programs for the youth are in the church and it got them excited to know they are a part of that now :)


Then of course, on Sunday we got to go back to Sagay to watch the Live Broadcast of the actual Dedication. Something I will definitely never forget, my whole life. There I was surrounded by these incredible people that have truly become my family and witnessing and joining in on their joy as they receive a Brand new Temple in their country. The talks were amazing and for the first time in way too long I felt like I was entering back into those beautiful and sacred walls of the Temple. ( even if it was via satellite :) ) Pres Monson was there as well as Pres Eyring and Elder Oaks, Bishop Burton and the complete Area Presidency of the Philippines. The spirit was indescribable and the feelings and thoughts that ran through my heart and mind as the brethren talked about the wonderful people here and promised them the most sweetest of blessings. I thought my heart was going to explode! I've never felt so much love.

He challenged everyone in attendance and listening to rededicate themselves to their family history and to their temple service and attendance. It was a nice opportunity for me to solidify and recommit myself to my own personal goals concerning the Temple in my own life. As usual when leaving the Temple, I walked out with sooo much newly gained understanding and knowledge about Our purpose here and the importance of the gospel and helping those around us and those in the spirit world accept it. I can not WAIT to go to the Manila Temple again before I fly home. I hope that all of you especially those of you in AZ understand how truly blessed you are to have a Temple so close to you. Are you using it? Are we forgetting the incredible blessings promised to us and others we have the chance to do work for if we go there? I hope not. There will soon be 4 Temples in AZ that is amazing! I hope we all can try our hardest to go as often as we can and help those around us feel the importance as we share the wonderful experiences that happen there.


Our work is still going great here in Old Sagay, we have Zone Conference on Wed, A big Service project on Friday and 2 Baptisms on Sat, then Sunday is my last Sacrament Meeting in the Philippines...bring on the water works! haha I'll be speaking and playing I know my Redeemer Lives on my violin as my last testimony...it makes me sick just thinking about it but I know the Lord will help me and I know this is not the end haha I'll be back here as soon as I can! I hope all is going great with all of you and I can't wait to see ya'll soon! I love you sooo much!

LALU Always,
Sister Grant

It just keeps gettin better....‏

Well this week was a crazy but good one but hey what else is new right? :) So we had our stake conference on sat and Sunday here in Sagay and it was soooo good. Elder Vasquez (sp?) from the Seventy come and talked and since next week is the dedication of the Cebu Temple it was all about Temples and Families... LOVE IT. All the talks were great and Pres Tobias and his wife were there and spoke as well. I learned so much and it made me even more excited to go to the temple in a couple short weeks! We also found out they are going to broadcast the cultural event in Cebu this Saturday before the dedication and we get to go watch it! I'm so excited!

So a cool thing that happened this week was we had a wonderful experience with one of our investigators named Sally. She is the wife of the oldest son of one of the families we reactivated last transfer I LOVE this family and they are so awesome and strong now in the church but his wife is not yet a member so we started teaching her a few weeks ago. At first she was SUPER shy and would barely even look up at us when we were teaching her. We continued to visit and teach her and really focus on gaining her trust and helping her not be so shy around us. Well as you all know I could entertain myself talkin to a 2x4 so I wasn't going to give up so easily to get a conversation out of her haha anyways after a few weeks shes now warmed up to us incredibly! and things were going great, except every time I would leave a reading assignment for her she never read the whole thing only a few verses or paragraphs in the pamphlet and she was always real shy about reviewing what she read, Finally last week I was talking to her about the importance of reading the BOM and gaining testimonies for ourselves and she opened up that she never graduated elementary and can't read! I felt so dumb for not noticing! She told me that her mother in law would always help her read and has been teaching her for about a year now so she would help her read her assignments. I told her we would just give her specific verses to read, just one each day and I also promised her that if she continued to read in the BOM daily that the Lord would bless her to learn how to read faster. She agreed and we began to give only 2 or 3 verses for her to read. I cant even tell you the difference it made!!

Her mother n law would help her read one each day and when we came back she was always sooo excited to share what she learned from her verse and show us how well she could read it by herself I'm pretty sure you could see both her smile and mine from the other side of the world where ya'll are at! haha then the last time we went to her house she bore the sweetest testimony about the power of the BOM and how she has been trying to read for a year now and how she is doing better now after just 2 weeks than she ever has been! She said I may have only read selected verses, but I know that this book is the Word of God and if it can help me in things like just reading how much more can it help my family! I was so touched by her sweet simple testimony I admit there were some tears in my eyes. She was just holding the book in her hands and holding it against her chest like it was her most prized possession. She's only 24 and has 2 kids and she said now she reads those same verses over and over again to them before they go to bed. I LOVE IT!

I gave her my last skirt that I randomly bought on a whim a few weeks ago so that she wouldn't be shy to go to church because she didn't have a skirt to wear :) I'm so excited for her little family to continue to grow in the church we have scheduled a date for her and her husband to be married the 2nd week of July and then she'll be baptized! :) There is seriously no greater joy than missionary work, words just can't explain.

So that was my awesome experience last week, on the funnier side ya'll will be happy to know I killed yet another rat this week. haha This time we set out poison for it that causes internal bleeding....yeah. Anyways, on Sat I went in to take a shower and we didn't have electricity so I just had 2 candles in the bathroom with me haha (very relaxing :) ) So I shut the door and reach down to grab the little bucket to pour over my head and guess whats shut up in the tiny little DARK bathroom with me just chillin in my bucket!!!!??? THE RAT! It took everything in me not to scream so loud haha I just said in a very slow low voice "OH....MY.....GOSH!....OH.....MY....GOSH!" lol Sister Ziebarth was in the kitchen right outside the door and was like "what?" and I quickly grabbed my towel and ran outta there like a barn on fire! I slammed the door and said OK! so the rat is in there..but he must have ate the poison because he's movin (thank goodness) very slow like he's dying. So we made a game plan that involved a chair a bucket and me popping off the vent on the Bathroom door again haha after an epic battle and a good 30 min the rat was trapped in a bucket where we left him lol and soon became his last resting place. That makes Sis Grants death count on her mission a total of 7 rats and 1 dog. Its not baptisms but I count them as an accomplishment none the less. LOL

Well this week we have a lot planned. We have the culture event on sat and the dedication on Sunday. Then Mon I'm headed to Bacolod again like yesterday for a meeting. President has called 6 missionaries to give special trainings at Conference on the 16th and I am one of them. I am a little nervous because its for ALL the missionaries on Negros Island and its the last bog conference before the mission splits so they are making it a big deal and there's a lot of meetings and planning involved but I'm excited for it, it should be awesome plus the 6 missionaries are 3 sisters and 3 elders. Guess who the 3 sisters are? yup MY BATCH from the MTC Sis Fairweather and Sis Johnson will join me in makin once again Bacolod Mission History as the first sisters to ever teach or give a training at a conference! haha we took a picture of the 3 of us and framed it for Pres and put on it the mission " The 3 Nephitas" which is what he calls us haha he said he wanted to clone us :) I'm pumped for this Conference! We are also singing in the choir an INCREDIBLE version of "If you could hide to Kolob" I'll tell ya'll how it goes after :)

I hope all is well as usual with all of you and that everyone is safe and healthy. I miss and Love you all soo much can't wait to see you soon! Keep writing me! Endure to the End haha

LALU
Always, Sister Grant

Sacrifice brings forth......

Still alive and kickin!! yes I made it through another fun Doctor visit in Bacolod :) Humiliated myself in front of about 25 people in the waiting room at the hospital and spent some good quality time with the office elders for a week. But now I'm Back and better than ever!
Heavenly Father definitely heard my prayers to get well fast enough to make it back to my area before sat morning so I could still witness the baptism of Marvien and Margie LacaoLacao. I literally got dropped back off at my house an hour before the baptism started! I was sooo happy and their whole family was there that we have been working so hard to reactivate and then they all were at church together yesterday for the confirmations it was AWESOME! I love it! and even with the measles like rashes still covering my body sat at the organ in front with a smile from ear to ear haha. So that's really all about my area right now I haven't been here for a week so I don't really have much to say this week sorry, but this week we have our Stake Conference and I'm pretty excited about that. I may or may not be playing my violin I'm not sure, they asked me like 2 weeks ago to accompany the choir but then I never heard from them again so we'll see ahah

How was the twins bday? considering ya'll are in Mexico I'm guessing as usual ya'll are enjoying yourselves quite nicely! haha I laughed when I heard they were probably going to release Tillman even though they weren't exactly sure yet what he even had...if that's not the story of my mission life I don't know what is! I feel for ya Tillman, your "Aunt" Sister Grant loves ya :) So we got our tickets this week for the Cebu Temple Dedication on the 13th of June I'm so excited I can hardly stand it! I was so jealous ya'll got to go to the Gila Valley so now I just have to play catch up and watch the Cebu one ;) Ya'll got nothin on me! haha
I'm sorry this email is so lame I really have been confined for the last week in Bacolod so there's really not much I have to say haha sorry. But I love you all and can't wait to write again next week and I promise I'll have more to say!

LaLu, Always
Sister Grant

Just thought i'd fill my mother in...‏

OK so I'm in Bacolod I went to the doctor earlier and they think I might have either typhoid fever or dengue which is malaria from the mosquito's...i know i know i only have like one month left and I'm pullin stuff like this again...I'm sorry. but hey I'm doing ok my fever broke earlier and they are gonna do some more test tomorrow. if they admit me to the hospital i could be there anywhere from 3-5 days we'll see hopefully not because we have a baptism we need to prepare our investigators for on sat! but the Lord will help it all work out. look on the bright side sister Fairweather had malaria 2 weeks ago and dropped 15 in a week! NOT TO SHABBY 4weeks before I come home haha :) Anyways I'll keep ya'll updated, I love you soooo much and I hope all is going well with Tillman and the family. keep my health in your prayers as usual haha LALU!

Sister Grant

Cloud 9...‏

Hello Everyone!!

This week has been so crazy! and I'm sorry its been a couple weeks since I have updated you guys but things have been great as usual. My area is still progressing so well, I had to have a special interview with my stake president, Bishop and Mission President about my plans and future progression of Tagnipis and the possibility of opening a branch there. I was so nervous and had to present a whole plan and stuff, but I got the approval from all 3 and now there is nothing stoppin us! haha we've gotten the attendance out there from 9 to 17 and hopefully we'll get over 20 next week.

In our home ward here in Old Sagay, our attendance is going up as well its been so great our re-activation efforts are solid and working really well. We have 3 whole families completely back in the church with callings and schedules and plans to be sealed in Cebu. We also are working really closely with 4 new families and each has a part member with a baptismal date! 2 for may 29 and the rest in June right before I go home! I can't wait, my first week here the attendance was 76 and yesterday we had 115! We have been working so hard with the leaders to get everything in the ward running smoothly.

Yesterday the Stake Pres came to our Sacrament Mtg and he said later in our ward council (sad to say) he finally felt the spirit in sacrament mtg in old sagay. I looked over at Bishop and he just winked at me haha I just LOVE our Bishop he really is just trying soo hard to help his members and his ward.I played my violin yesterday in sac mtg as well ( one of my fav hymns #26) it was soo ridiculous because I'm also the ward pianist a joke in itself haha but anyways so there was no one to accompany me on the violin so I recorded MYSELF playing on the keyboard and then during sac mtg my comp just sat there and pushed play lol! So I definitely accompanied myself on the violin :) hey you do what ya gotta do right? love it.

So we had transfers last Friday and I picked up my new greenie :) Yup President is having me train again and I was so excited! Its such a blast teaching a brand new missionary everything you love about the work and of course everything I love about the PINES! She is great. Her name is Sis Ziebarth which is hilarious when the Filipinos try to say it at first haha anyways shes 21 and from San Diego CA she graduated from Law enforcement and worked at a police station for 2 and 1/2 years and wants to be in the CIA or FBI when she gets home! Crazy huh, but she is way fun and has a way laid back personality so its nice and I think we will have a really smooth and fun transfer I'm excited. She's already had some funny experiences with the food situation and meeting the giant lizard that lives in our kitchen. Bless her heart. I love training.

So I'm running out of time but I wanted to tell ya'll real quick about one of our investigators that will be baptized in June. His name is Ray and he is incredible he just moved here to help his grandma who lives alone and is also our R.S President. He is 17 years old and wants to be a member sooo bad! Yesterday he was the first one at church he was earlier than the Bishop! and wearing a white shirt and black pants, then when we visited him after church he told me how he has started his Duty to God award and has a goal to finish it before he turns 18! haha are ya kidding me?! We just barely finished the 2nd lesson and he's already workin on his duty to God! He will be such an amazing elder one day :) I also had one of the daughters of the families we reactivated tell me she was going to name her daughter (june2 is her due date) after me haha so theres that :) I LOVE THE PINES!

Well thats all the time I have so I hope you all have a wonderful week and I love you all!

Always, Sister Grant

Flag this message Pioneer children sang as they walked..and walked...

Hello Family!!

I hope all is going great as usual! This week was a good one, we got a lot of work done in Tagnipis I'm still truckin along with my goal to start a Branch there and everything is going really well we should have our first Sacrament Mtg there in two weeks on the 16th.I'm so excited! We split whenever I work out there because my companion can't make the hike she has asthma and its about a 2 and half to 3 mile walk and boy is it HOT here! so she stays with a ward missionary and continues the work in Old Sagay and I head out to the middle of nowhere with 2 of our ward missionaries haha I love it though its so beautiful there and it feels like the people are seriously just sitting around waiting for us to walk up and talk to them!

On Friday I was trying to find the house of a Less active member and asked a woman sitting outside her house with her two children. I asked her where the lady's house was and she told me, and then I started to talk a little bit with her...come to find FUNNILY ENOUGH she has always been "curious" about the mormons haha and we ended up teaching a lesson to her, her husband and her count em 11 CHILDREN! haha The lesson was so powerful and they had so many ?s and were so receptive. Talk about your modern day miracles mom :)

So moving right along there. We have another baptism on sat :) We have re-activated one of the very first families we visited here in Old Sagay they've been to church every week since we've been here now and there daughter whose name is Angel Joy :) will be baptized on Saturday and they've already had their interview with bishop to set a goal date to go to the temple! So as you can tell I'm as happy as a clam haha and the work is still just on fire!

Earlier today we had our zone activity at the beach in my area, it was a BLAST we played games and BBQ I was teasing the elders as we looked out at the ocean singing "6 WEEKS NA LANG" which means I only have 6wks left haha and then I'd be back at the beach in Mexico only I'll be in the that water quicker than you can imagine! ;)

Well I love you all so much, nothing has changed with my house situation I bought more nails the other day and fixed my bed bc the leg snapped during the night dropping my bed instantly to the ground giving me a heart attack at about 1am haha I texted the APs and they just said they were so happy I'm such a "girl scout" so they don't have to make the trek out here to fix everything I told them well durn if I knew thats whats taking ya'll so long I'll stop buying nails! haha no worries.

Anyways love you all and miss ya tons can't wait to call next week and talk to ya'll have a great week keep smiling and keep going to the temple I love it!

Always,
Sister Grant

P.S
Happy Bday Colton and Becky late I know sorry ahaha

Carabaw Encounters...

Sorry I have like 0 time this week to write so I haven't read any of your letters yet so if I don't answer any ?s forgive me and I'll make a note to answer them next week I promise!
So this week has been crazy! I LOVE my new area it is so fun and the work is just on FIRE. I'm even talking to President right now and the stake leadership in my area about a proposal I gave to open a whole new Branch in one part of my area! I proposed the idea to my Mission President and he said I have to talk to the leaders in my area and so things are still in the works but if I can raise the attendance, secure Priesthood leadership and prove their willingness to pay tithing the wonderful people of "Tagnipis" could have their very own branch in their area instead of WALKING ( no transportation) about a mile and a half to go to church! Not to mention the opportunity that gives them not just to attend church but to have callings and serve in their own branch. Oh it gives me chills just thinking about it! haha Obviously all those things are a lot easier said then done but the Lord is helping us sooo much in this area I am positive I'll at least get to see the beginning stages of it all.

We have the Baptism of Lored Gustillo on Saturday and I'm so excited we've been working so hard to gain the trust back from the members and a brand new baptism our 3rd week here is a great way to start! haha I love it. We also have found 3 new families to teach that have part members and the members in their families are strong so things are going great! My companion and I get along great and we are just having a blast learning the area and just working our hearts out to find and establish the work again in Old Sagay its exhausting but so fun and the results are better than anything else!

So a quick funny story for ya, the other day we were walking on this tiny dirt road on both sides of us was sugar cane about 6ft high the path was narrow and there was 4 of us. Sis Cruz and I our ward missionary sister Jennifer 30yr old RM and Nanay Mahilum the most hard working old lady in Old Sagay she's almost 60 yrs old but works with us every day. Anyways, as we were walking the path opened up on one side where they had started to harvest the sugar cane then all the sudden we hear a man yelling and then up ahead on the narrow path where the sugar can started again this huge carabaw turns the corner charging full speed ahead just a gruntin! We all 4 screamed and of course the 3 of them ran to one side of the road and I ran to the other haha and of course I happened to be wearing my Hot Pink Jody dress the angry beast follows me!! SO there I am screaming my crazy fool head off trying to escape the beast and the Filipino man is yelling running behind trying to grab the rope dragging on the ground haha I finally just darted into the sugar cane and the carabaw stopped at the edge panting and grunting staring at me in the rows haha I was laughing so hard but my heart was about to beat out of my chest!
The man finally grabbed the rope and calmed the beast down and called out when they were far enough away the carabaw wouldn't see me and I made my victorious exit from the sugar cane where the Sis Cruz and the other women were waiting laughing their heads off hah I thought I was gonna pee my pants I was laughing so hard.

Anyways! so theres something for ya'll to laugh at this week I hope all is well and everyone is doing great as usual. I finally got your package THANK YOU SO MUCH! I loved everything inside. and Dad your labels look AWESOME I love the blue flower great job Bai. your right it looks real sharp with the product name. Also your pics from Hawaii are soo cute! your girls are soo big! its so weird you look so different to me yet your still my girls. Beautiful as ever. Congrats Denee' I'm so excited its another girl! haha poor Chris but we all know it made Dad and Colton the men they are today because they grew up around us women haha. I love you all soo much and can't wait to call on Mothers day!
stay happy and smiling!

LALU
Always, Sister grant

More Pictures and Videos sent home about 2 weeks ago

Running from the rats and mice in her apartment!!

General Conference

Ok first off I just want to say that conference was absolutely WONDERFUL! I loved it. I can't believe its already been another 6 months but man were all the talks soo good. I love how inspired all the speakers are about the topics. Each session has an overall "theme" like Elder Neil A. Anderson said and its always incredible to see the miracle of all the talks building on each other. I learned so much and received so much council and guidance that I was seeking. Now I just have to patiently wait for the Liahona to come out next month so I can read and study them all over again! haha

I was happy to hear ya'll got out of Utah I was praying for you guys that you wouldn't get stuck there. I can't even tell you how happy it makes me every letter you write me about all the family history work ya'll are doing! I'm so jealous, but I guess I still have 2 months to focus on the living then I can start helping with the dead no? haha save me some names ha?! I just get chills when I think about our whole family inside the temple just baptizing and doing the work for our lamanite heritage :) KEEP GOING!!

My new area is sooo awesome! The Lord is truly pouring out the blessings on us here in Old Sagay. We've only been there 1 week but we already have some really good solid investigators that I'm so excited for! The members here are incredible, they come out with us every single day and help us. We just go from one part member/ Less active family to the next and we are having sooo much success! Through some tender mercies of the Lord and help from the ward we were able to contact two girls ages 16 and 19 that had baptismal dates before the area closed and then were just kind of forgotten about. So sad! but even though they were never baptized they still went to church every week in the neighboring city with their aunt and have continued to read the BOM and their desire to be baptized is stronger than ever! We taught them twice and then gave them a new baptismal date! Hows that for progress in a newly opened area haha our first week and we have 2 investigators with a Date! haha I couldn't be happier to say the least :)

It is seriously beautiful here, I can't WAIT to bring ya'll here and have you actually walk down these little roads with me and meet these wonderful people. Pictures and stories just don't do justice in the slightest degree.
I love you all so much and miss you even more! I'm excited to hear if I'll have another niece or nephew so make sure you fill me in!
Stay safe and keep going to the temple! Keep the letters coming :)

LaLu, Always,
Sister Grant

Makin History Baby!!!!

Alright first off thanks for all the letters! I'm so glad everyone enjoyed and got to listen to conference! I can't wait!! We have to wait one week for the re-satellite broadcast so ours is this Saturday and Sunday the 10th-11th and I'm so pumped I can hardly stand it!! I can't believe how cold it is there, we are DYING over here it is so hot in my new area too because I'm higher up and right along the coast so its even more humid...please help me. haha

SOOO Drum roll please! well I was transferred to 'Old Sagay'. And this is where the history and magic begins haha. Old Sagay has been a closed area for the last 7 months and My companion Sis Cruz and I are the first sisters to ever be assigned here, or even on this part of the island! When President called me into his office the Wednesday before transfers on Friday and asked if I was up to the challenge I was literally speechless. There has been NO missionary work there for 7 months and the elders before were pulled out because they were having a lot of problems with the ward and with the work. Needless to say I was a little nervous. I'm about 2 hours or so from the city in the northern part of Negros Island. Our area is BEAUTIFUL, its very close to the ocean and is nothing but rolling hills and mountains. it reminds me a lot of Valladolid just not as flat but everyone is basically a fisherman or a farmer. We were at the office ALL Friday because we didn't even have a house yet haha and when we finally got there it was...um...interesting. For the first 3 days we had 1 bed, no water and no food, the doors didn't even have locks and there is a 'Tuko' GIANT lizard that is really loud living in our kitchen we lost electricity 4 times already ahah and I already had to break down the Bathroom door because we didn't have a key not to mention the clogged drain in the shower haha President came up yesterday and called the people to come make all the repairs so hopefully this week it should be getting better. I always loved camping no? My companion is Sis Cruz she is a 24 year old 5'7 drop dead gorgeous filipina and if nothing else i can definitely use her to OYM (open your mouth) :) She is so hard-working and is ready for the challenge as I am. Despite all of this I'm sooo excited for this transfer. Yesterday at church was amazing! The ward is sooo excited just to have missionaries back they are helping us a ton! Yesterday in ward council I proposed a Search and Rescue activity like I did in Handumanan and they LOVED it so we are planning on that for the 18th. Testimony meeting was awesome and the spirit in the ward is soo strong. I'm pumped!

Yesterday I had a 103 fever, maybe from all the stress of the move and opening an area out in the middle of nowhere haha but I'm feeling a ton better today when President came by yesterday he asked me how I was feeling and I said why?and he just flat out said in English because you look horrible hahah the AP's gave me a blessing and the fever broke immediately....gotta love the priesthood :) I drank some good ole 300mg ibprofen and have been getting better ever since.
Well I'll fill ya'll in on my thoughts from conference next week and how the work goes this week. Stay happy and healthy haha I know I should take my own advice haha anyways! LALU!!!

Always,
Sister Grant

P.S.
Sister Grant has a new email address if you'd like to know what it is I have changed it on the left hand side of this blog.

The Fabulous Life of....

Sorry this will be kind of a short email, its been kind of one of those weeks where I'm just not really sure what to write. A lot happened this week, we had our Zone Conference that went so well it was great! I learned sooo much from the Assistants and of course from President. It really was a great conference, our musical number went well too, we played "Where can I turn for Peace" one of my favorites :) The conference was in La Carlota which is like a little over an hour from Handumanan and we had to drive through Vallodolid ( my first area) that was exciting for me and I loved showing Sis Ball my first area.

Sis Ball experienced a life in the day of Sis Grant last night, poor thing. We were walking along the road to one of our appts. it was about 6pm and a little boy ran out in front of us and got hit by a car right there in front of us. It was pretty bad he was only about 8 years old. I ran over to him and started talking to him and...we'll just say dealing with the situation. haha A crowd gathered and to make it worse the driver of the car was drunk and angry at me because I wouldn't let him touch the little boy who I was afraid was going to be paralyzed from the look of his body. I had blood all over me and gross I know but I also had 2 of his teeth in my hand. Anyways to keep this from giving you nightmares mom know that all is well they took the little boy to the hospital after his Grandma finally showed up but not until after the drunk driver man tried to snatch the boy away from me and I "Kindly yet forcefully" told him NOT TO TOUCH THAT BOY and then he slapped me a good one right across my face! It was the so ridiculous haha I was so shocked at what happened before I could even look back at him and say something two men had grabbed him and were rippin him a new one. Anyways a bad, and sad situation turned out fine and the little boy was taken care of and so was the reckless man driving drunk and I walked away with another 'Brooklyn Story turned Sis Grant story" and a sweet red hand print on my face for evidence. Stuff just really does happen to me haha even in the Pines! Most people say I have awful luck but I think its awesome I'm always in the right place at the right time to help someone and even though its not always the "ideal" situation I'm grateful and excited for those opportunities :)

On a lighter note. ROSANA DOGOMEO got baptized and confirmed yesterday!!!! Oh man I was one happy girl I'm pretty sure you could see her beautiful smile and her family beaming from AZ if you were watchin for it. It was sooo awesome! and then for my LAST Sunday in Handumanan both Bishops asked me to bear my testimony BUT since I had just spoken in church last week and have born my testimony at the pulpit there sooo many times AND since I had my violin still I bore my testimony through my music which is one of my personal favorite ways anyways :) I played I know that my Redeemer Lives and there wasn't a dry eye in the church...including mine! haha its a good thing I know that song well because I couldn't see a single note on my page haha. The spirit was so strong and both bishops got up afterwards and gave incredible talks about the importance of listening to conference and the opportunity it is to gain a testimony of our Savior and his plan and of our Living Prophet! It was sooooo wonderful I can't even express in words the feeling in both meetings. It was sooo sad though because it was my last Sunday and I can't explain how much I love Handumanan and the people there especially the members and the Bishops.Tomorrow I find out where I'm transferring to on Friday which will most likely be my last area. My feelings and emotions are soooo mixed and up and down. I'm stoked for a new area and the challenges and new things that come with that, but I will definitely be leaving more than a piece of my heart in Handumanan.

I'm sooooooo thrilled to hear about the work ya'll are doin with our Indian Ancestors!!!! That's SO COOL! Keep it up so I can come home and join ya'll in the temple! Because please believe I will be in the temple AT LEAST once a week for the rest of my life!

Well I'll have more about everything next week!

LALU

P.s thanks for saying you got the package I was getting worried it got lost at sea.

Hope you like it all I'll have more when I come home :)

Always,
Sister Grant

Small World!!!!

Alright well I know we should all be pretty used to ridiculous things happening to me by now but mom you will LOVE this one haha

So of course its my P-day and after we practiced for our musical number on Thursday my whole district decided to go bowling! I was so excited. We went to this random place, we got 2 lanes and started to bowl when all the sudden there was a mans hand on my shoulder....haha I turn around to hear " Are you Brooklyn Grant?" Hah! I looked at the sunburned white man standing there and said..."are you Rick Eaton?" haha Are ya kidding me? of all the random places in the whole city of Bacolod and he had decided to play pool with his bro in law! We talked for awhile and he got to hear my Ilonggo as I chatted with his Bro in law, I took a picture with him no worries mom. I gave him a way to contact me and hopefully I'll get to see him again soon and meet his family :) Small World...RANDOM!

So this week was great, to sum it up we had 2 really great lessons with 2 families that have been kind of struggling both teachings were so powerful. I love when you can almost see the moment the spirit touches them or the moment understanding and peace changes their whole countenance. We have a baptism this coming sat..which will be a FABULOUS way to end my stay in my dear Handumanan. Its the baptism of Rosana Dogomeo and I've been teaching her since my first transfer here! She is the only one in her family that isn't a member and she has had so many struggles and trials that she has gone thru and overcome in order for her to finally join her family and I can't think of a better way that I could leave my town of Handumanan than to see her whole family (there's 7 of them) all reactivate in the church and sweet Rosana sitting there on the Bench with them! I can't wait!

It sounds like your Hawaii trip was awesome! I'm so glad you girls loved the PCC that was my favorite too. I went there almost everyday when I was there. Remember how I met those kids and jump roped with them every morning..and then it turned out his dad was like the V.P of the PCC and he gave me a free pass any day haha I love my life. That place is so fun and entertaining. I am STOKED about your ukes! I'm having a guy carve the phils islands into the back of mine here so I can have when I get home I know so many cool island songs I've learned here I can't wait to teach you girls! Keep it up and it'll be a SWEET jam session just like old times :)
Dad your trip to China sounded like it went really well too, Its so crazy to imagine you speaking in front of 500 people! But that's awesome I'm so proud of you. I'm still really planning on taking over your company someday when you and mom serve your own missions so keep up the good work Boss ;)

The Doctors went really well, first of all I didn't even flinch when they were drawing all my blood. I've definitely overcome that fear now haha same ole same ole now. They changed my Medicine again and its really working so far so this week has been accident free and wonderful! No need to worry, I'll probably go in for another checkup in 2 weeks or so just to make sure all is how it should be and then I think I'm in the clear! HALLELUJAH! how ever you spell that haha

Anyways, I love you all so much and I'm so glad your all doing so well. Keep reading your Scriptures everyday...I gave a talk in church yesterday about the Book of Mormon and how its the answer to all our problem and concerns. It went really well and I hope all of you are reading even if its 10 minutes a day. It makes a difference I promise!

Well LALU K BYEEEE!
Always, Sister Grant

Amo man Gihapon...

I can't believe ya'll are going to Hawaii!!!?? no one ever told me that was even in the game plan I'm so jealous! Girls you are gonna have a blast! I'm so excited for you and when ya'll step off that plane and the humidity smacks ya in the face like a semi....think of me and smile ok? It is definitely getting hot over here. I'm pretty sure ya'll stole all the rain because we are in a drought they call it El Nino...(which means the Nino haha ;) colton) but we haven't seen rain in forever and the sun is Blazin everyday. When we come home in the afternoon for lunch we can't even wash our hands because the water that comes out of the pipes from the faucet is like boiling!
So this week we had some disappointing things happen with our investigators we had to move back the baptismal date for the Subiaga Family but that's actually ok because I know it will be so much better for them even if I get transferred and don't get to see them get baptized. Sis Ball can just send me a pic or something :) Then The Camasora girls had a few issues with their father and no matter what we did he decided to forbid them from getting baptized...it was so sad I was seriously heartbroken but I know their Mother has the desire and so do they and in the due time of the Lord they will be able to be baptized and I know they are strong and until then will continue to exercise their faith and keep strong. On the other hand we went to visit one of my recent converts if ya'll remember Josie Durmentes and her family...we went there last night and they showed me their plans that they had made with Bishop to be sealed in the Temple this Nov. They invited me and said they would be doing it in the new Cebu temple I was so happy I could hardly stand it! SO the work is still going great, we're still truckin right along with our new male investigators and working really hard with Less active families and the retention of our wards its really fun and exciting seeing families that haven't been to church in forever come to church and be welcomed so warmly by all the members. I LOVE IT!

I just had our monthly interview with President and it went well he thanked me for the work I've done in Handumanan and told me some great things from the stake presidency there. He also hinted that I would be transferring which..considering I've been there for 7 months now I kind of figured haha. We talked a little about my health and he said since the medicine they gave me that I've been trying for two weeks now hasn't really had an effect they'd probably have me come in again on Thursday and do some blood work which we all know is just my favorite...NOT! We'll see how that goes, I'll keep ya'll posted.

So everything is going great. I'm conscious and happy haha We have our Zone Conference coming up on the 24th and President asked me to play the violin so that always makes me even happier and means I get to take his violin home for a week or so :)
Hope all goes well with your trips and everyone has fun. Stay safe and girls try surfing its soooo fun once you get the hang of it! Love you all and miss ya tonz!

LALU Always,
Sister Grant

RoLlEr cOAstRr aNYoNe?‏..... and look below for another post as well

Alright so sorry I just realized my letter last week never sent but it wasn't a very good one anyway so its ok. SO this week was up and down for sure I'll tell you the bad part first to end on a good note :) Unfortunately my symptoms from the MTC and earlier days in the mission started again. Its really frustrating not to mention painful but I spent a lot of time this week trying to rest and let my body re-coop. I had another "seizure like" episode on Tuesday and passed out a few times which obviously isn't normal haha but I went to see a neurologist and a regular ol doc the same one I went to with the rabies ( yeah he just looked at me like seriously sis grant...again?) haha I got some medications and have been feeling a little better. No need to worry I promise I'm alive and really fine, just a minor set back. But on the other hand even with all the unconsciousness...haha We had some awesome things happen this week!

Last week at our District meeting they announced that Tracting is now not allowed and we have to use the members and Referrals 100%. This is fine in Handumanan because we just had 2 great reactivation activities and have plenty of work plus the members are awesome so I wasn't worried about that. Then they said we have to have 5 new Male Investigators each week! Obviously we focus all our efforts on finding families and especially young fathers to help the priesthood and organization of the church here but I was a little nervous about reaching 5 every week. We have 3 really strong male investigators right now, but its always tricky with men because...being the only 2 white women in town we get quite a bit of attention luckily I've been there for so long everyone in the city pretty much knows me haha but its still hard finding men that are actually interested and don't just want to talk to us. Also Men are usually working and often to shy to talk to us. BUT of course when the Lord gives a commandment he also gives you a way to do it. So Sis Ball and I went home and prayed to find ways to reach this goal...that very day we started seeing the Lords hand in our work. We went to the house of Bro Subiaga and his 2 sons who will be baptized on the 20th and his friend were there. When we walked in he looked at my tag and said "Hey I have one of your books..but I have some questions.." REALLY? haha we were so excited and got his address and set an appt right there. Then the next day the family that we live with has a daughter who lives with them right now with her baby and husband, as we were walking out of our apartment after lunch to go back out the daughter informed us that her husband wasn't a member and would love for us to start teaching him....YES PLEASE! haha 2 down 3 to go... no farther than right outside the gate a man chases us down saying "Hey are you mormons?" we stopped and talked to him for a sec and he asked if we had anything he could read about our church...Um yeah we GLADLY handed him a pamphlet and our names and set an appt! I LOVE IT! Then, one of the Less Active ladies we found through our activity the other day helped us find number 4. We had been trying to go teach her family 3 times and each time she would either refuse or hide from us, then the other night we went by one more time and she was there and invited us in, we focused on building her trust in us and talking to her to help her feel more comfortable...things were going really well and then I had a feeling we should leave a prayer before we left so I prayed and asked the Lord to help her be an example to her husband and family and to soften the heart of her husband so that their families life could be blessed by the gospel. When we said "Amen" she was sobbing and she opened up about some problems they were having and we were able to feel the spirit so strong and she told us she would talk to her husband and invited us back to her home to start teaching him. I LOVE MISSIONARY WORK!! haha We're still workin on #5 but with the way things are going I'm not to worried about it ;)


So I hope all is well with everyone and youre all enjoying the blessings of having a missionary out for 4 more months ;) haha I love you all so much and miss you even more!
Seriously Mom, Dad don't freak out about my health I'm talking all my pills everyday and drinking like 2 gallons of water daily too. I'll be fine don't call the mission office. I'm in the Lords hands, it will all work out. If I'm not worried about it neither should you guys. I got my "trunky letter" last week my official departure date is June 23.. and I told them I'd like to fly into Sky Harbor haha they asked me and I just laughed. It felt so weird to even think about that airport I can't believe I'm getting those kind of papers from the office! WHAT HAPPENED TO MY MISSION?!

haha welp, LALU
ALways, Sister Grant

From last week that didn't send so she resent it

Alright I'm sorry its going to have to be quick this week but I've redeemed myself already
because I sent a package home this morning to you guys and you'll LOVE it :) it has pictures
and a tape from me! haha

So this week was good one and we didn't have anything really exciting happen.
I was a little freaked out in the beginning of the week because ya'll wrote about me bleeding
from my ears and getting all bruised and what not then like 4 other people told me the same
thing here so lets just say I was on my guard a little more this week haha but I'm still in one
piece and lovin life :)We have 2 baptisms coming in March on the 13th and on the 20th I'm
really excited I'll tell you more about them when they get closer. I'm so jealous of your
trip mom and hope ya'll have a blast! Its definitely hot here and just getting hotter! haha I
haven't heard anything about the storms coming up but I'll keep ya posted.
Dad I want you to know I'm so proud of all the hard work your putting into "our" company haha
and I know that the Lord will help you make all the right choices in order to be successful if
you continue to trust him. Colton I'm so happy for your new job offer and I'll keep praying
it goes well for you. Denee, glad to hear your still preggers :) and Alexa and Bailey I love
you girls more than you could EVEN imagine P.s new favorite song...PARTY IN THE USA!  haha I
always here it on Jeepneys and I love it. Well all is well in Handumanan as usual and I'll
write more next week I promise!
Love you thanks for the Letters! P.S Dad your slackin on the writing! haha lalu
Always, Sister Grant

Pasensya gid!‏

Sorry I didn't write last week, but here are the updates...

So the past 2 weeks have been crazy! We have been so busy and its been awesome! Last week we planned an Activity for our 1st ward and it went SOOO WELL. I loved it, we had each auxiliary come up with 3 Less Active families or names and then 1 Referral and then we met up at the church at 8am where Sis Ball and I taught a short workshop and devotional then we split into 5 groups and went out and visited and taught those families it was great. We called it the "Search and Rescue" and it was such a success we were able to contact and invite 18 Less Active families to church and to our ward FHE in 2 hours!! and we got soo many good referrals plus it got the members more excited about helping the missionaries and doing their own visiting teaching and home teaching assignments when 5 families that hadn't been to church in almost 10 YEARS came the next day!! I was sooo happy and now we are planning to do the same thing in our 2nd ward and because they all saw the success in 1st ward I think it'll be even bigger and better this time around!

Transfers were last Friday and miracles of all miracles...IM STILL IN HANDUMANAN!! Haha I know I've been here forever and will spend almost half my time in the field in one area but I was so excited I almost peed my pants :) and I stayed with Sis Ball!! haha President Tobias straight up told me he felt that there was still work for me to do there which got me really excited and I think the two Search and Rescue activities and the follow up work that will happen afterwards are a huge part of it and I am more than happy to be here and experience it.
I can't believe how fast time is going and it scares me a little bit but I'm still loving every minute of it and we are staying so busy I don't really have time for anything else. A new batch of missionaries just came in last week and there were 11 of them from America it was crazy!
Well I love you all soo much and I'm glad your all doing well and are happy and healthy as usual. Can't wait for Mexico haha :) LA LU

Always,
Sister Grant

Pamela....

Hellooo!

Sorry to hear everyones comin down with colds and the flu, that's usually how it goes with families one person gets it first and then one by one everyone eventually gets it too. Remember the chicken pox scenario in Missouri... I guess that one was my fault :) Well as Dad always tells me drink more water and take your vitamins!!

This week was sooo busy but sooo good we moved to our new apartment on wed and it was quite the event. The office elders who were supposed to assist us and bring the mission truck to carry all the big stuff were so late so Sis Ball and I ended up making 4 or 5 trips on a jammed pack trike standing akwardly on the side and on top holding mattresses and our other belongings haha the trike driver and most of our neighbors luckily lended us a helpful hand and some good laughs. "You two are the Strongest women I've ever seen..." haha I also almost got my head taken off by a low hanging branch while holding our dresser on top of the trike...not once but TWICE! hah I thought Sis Ball would fall off the trike laughing so hard. "Oh hey President..yeah sorry my trainee has a cracked skull, she was hanging off the trike laughing at me...." Not so much. Anyways, It all worked out and they finally showed up and we got it all moved and situated and now live in the cutest apartment in all of Handumanan! Its perfect for us and so close to the church I love it!

On Saturday we had the baptism of dear Pamela Dela Cruz. I know it will definitely be one of my most memorable and special baptisms of my mission. I can't wait for you to meet her when you all come back with me.She is such an incredible woman, her baptism started off a little rough on the account of the water in the font when we got there had been in there since my last baptism there which was Jan 3rd!! It was so disgusting it was green and had an oily film on the top not to mention the smell and bugs floating on top. I was a bit frustrated and embarrassed but hey what can ya do but tie up your jody and pull out the Momma Fran in me and grab some buckets…(The drain was broken). Sis Ball and I carried bucket after bucket out of the church until we could get the nasty film off the top and lower the water level so that Pamela could sit on a chair in the font ( she can’t bend well enough to go under) finally we got the font situation figured out and then came the baptism. Pamela who is 44 was going to be baptized by her newly endowed father who is 74… I helped..(carried) her in to the font and then helped her enter the water. Even with all the difficulties and “not your normal” baptism details the spirit as she was entering the water was so powerful. The moment she touched the water she had the biggest smile on her face you could imagine. Her father tried to baptize her but he couldn't do it on his own, I held her legs standing in the water up to my knees in my jody…and Bro Caspe changed and joined the 3 of us in the water. Between the 3 of us we managed to get her immersed and baptized. As soon as she came out she was crying, my heart was so full and I could just see the happiness on her face she was the absolute definition of PURE JOY. I cried as I watched the random members that had through many other tender mercies attended her baptism and saw the affect this beautiful women had mad on them. She can’t even talk or walk without a limp, but she made more of an impact in a couple of hours than I would hope to make my whole mission.

The next day was fast Sunday and members that hadn’t been to church in months but had amazingly attended her service bore their tender testimonies about the spirit they had felt and how her sweet simple example had helped them remember their own covenants and promises they had made. It was SO AWESOME! I love this church, and I know there is NOTHING but this gospel that can bring us that true joy and the everlasting blessings we all desire for ourselves and our families. I love and miss you all so much, but I am more than grateful to be here with these amazing people who have truly served me far more than I could for them. I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Love Always,
Sister Grant

Penoy Cruises

Definitely jealous of the cruise! So many people here work on ships and things like that. Definitely one of my plans for later days! Just so you know I GOT MY PACKAGE and it was the best thing EVAH! Those garments are seriously like 5 Christmas presents all rolled into 1. Not to mention the twix oh man it was wonderful thank you soo much mom LALU!

So sounds like you all had a busy week and ended it with a bang at Monster Trucks and Blessing Tillman, I hope he starts feeling better.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASHTON AND BRINLEY!
I love you all so much and excited for all your trunky plans haha :)

This week was a good one we had Zone Conference in La Carlota on Wed and it was great. The AP's did a great job as usual on their training and the lunch they fed us was good haha all around good day. Then on Friday we had a CSP at the High School in Handumanan I actually mixed and poured cement with a few of the other elders, I actually felt like I was home helping colton or dad do all their random "projects" again. You should have seen all the Filipino mens faces watching me mix and lay cement it was so funny they just kept asking me if I was ok and if I was feeling tired lol I just looked at them like, please I'm not gonna break a nail here...hah

So this weekend we will have 2 baptisms, On Saturday Pamela, will be baptized the woman who had a stroke I'm so excited! Then on Sunday morning before church Nephi will be baptized the little boy who's family are all members but they have like 10 children so his mom just "forgot" to get him baptized haha ridiculous but I love them they are such an awesome family.
We are also moving on Wednesday to a new house. We will live on the top floor (separate apartment) of the old Bishop in ward 1. They just finished rebuilding it so it should be nice because it's all new and re-done and its always nice to live close to members...now we'll live on top of them! Its a major downsize in space and convenience BUT we're hoping for a definite INCREASE in food intake ;)

Other than that everythings been going great, amo man gihapon :) The work is still going really well and we have a lot of way fun and big projects and activities coming up in our wards to help with Re-activation so I'm excited about that..stay tuned! Later today we have a Tri-Zone Activity and I'm stoked because basically everyone I know and adore in the mission will be there! so I'll update on those festivities next time. Love you all and miss ya tons!

LALU,
Always Sister Grant

Mice, and Medical Moments...

Well I'm so happy you are all fully enjoying the pictures and videos of the last 8 or so months of my life :) Just wait till you hear all the stories that go along with them! So this week was great we got a lot accomplished considering all the many distractions and "happenings" that occurred. The first one...we were successful in a massive mouse extermination! We killed two with the traps, we trapped three in our bedroom that is concrete and impossible to escape and killed them.. (it was kind of gross but necessary) then this morning we found one in our pot swimming (we had filled it up with water last night because there was burned rice on the bottom) so if you count them all up we have rid our apt of 6 mice! I know... Quite the victory! I just hope we are done with them now! They were disgusting little guys whose unhallowed hands were definitely trying to stop the work from progressing. We also had one of our investigators (Theodore our amazing recent convert, his brother Chris) got stabbed 3 times after we left his house on Friday night it was sooo sad because their brother just got shot and killed in March of 09 and now not even a year later they were back in the ridiculous hospital here fighting for his life. We went and visited him and it was an experience I'll never forget. First Sis Ball and I were both overwhelmed the second we stepped into the Public Hospital, extremely over crowded, dirty and we saw things that we definitely weren't expecting to see. We finally found his bed in the sea of beds and tried to hold back tears as Theodore told us the story. Theodore and his Dad looked awful, my heart just broke. Then we look over and see his Libro ni Mormon on the table, then the tears came I was so overwhelmed with everything around me and watching Theodore tend to every single need of his brother who looked terrible with no nurse even in sight, he is such an amazing person I know without a doubt he will do incredible things in the Church. In the 6 months I have known him I have seen more Christlike Attributes in his everyday life then in any other person I've ever met. His brother asked me to say a prayer and with tears streaming down all our faces we prayed. I prayed for comfort and healing to come upon their wonderful family that has been through so much already and that we might all learn the lessons needed through this experience. I'm so grateful for people here, I can't even put into words the feelings I have for them. I have learned more from them in the 10months I have labored here teaching them everyday then I could have EVER taught them. They are so ready and willing to accept the gospel and anything the Lord puts in their paths. They are Humble, and Happy. They understand whats important in life and they cherish those things. I love them and this work so much. I love you all too so much! thank you so much for all the letters and emails ya'll are seriously great. I've truly never been so happy in my life! I'm so glad you are all doing so well and are staying healthy and fun :) LALU!
Love Always,
Sister Grant

Well another week has passed in my beloved Handumanan and not much happened this week surprisingly. It rained a lot and there was supposedly a big storm a brewin :) but it never hit to bad. My umbrella broke that Sis De Leon gave ,me so that was pretty sad but other than that there were no causalities in the storm. We had an interesting sacrament meeting when the Bishop tried to ordain a 9yr old boy for the priesthood and I had to "walk briskly" up to the front to whisper in his ear that they kind of have to be 12 to receive the priesthood haha but turns out he had just mixed up the names and was supposed to give it to his older brother who is both worthy and of age ;) haha Gotta love it.


I'm really sorry to hear about Uncle Larry the AP actually just texted me to come to the office and then asked if I'd seen Sterling I'm pretty sure that's what its about. Hopefully I'll get to see him after this and talk to him at the office. We talked about his G-pa a few weeks ago and he said he was pretty certain he didn't have much longer but I know it'll still be hard on him. I'm grateful I'm at least close to him and can hopefully offer some comfort or anything he might need. The family is in my prayers, Always.

I'm so excited and relieved to hear ya'll finally got my pictures and cds! I was positive they were lost at sea. I seriously just can not wait to bring you all back here and show you everything and have you meet everyone I know you will love it just as much as I do! Having a "bata" (trainee) is a blast! I get to show her everything I love and teach her everything I wish someone would have taught me! Sometimes its really hard because she has a lot of questions especially about the language that I don't always have an answer for but so far its been going really well. We get along great!

I'm glad everything is still goin forward with your work dad and that your "procedure" was a success mom haha it was so weird when you said Bailey was driving you to the hospital I still can't picture them driving its just so weird!

Congrats Duna! and happy bday ashton and brin :)

I love you all so much and pray for you everyday. I'll admit having an American companion especially fresh from home makes it a little difficult to not think about home a few times but its great I'm excited youre all doing so well. No worries about me I'm still lovin every minute of it and cant believe seriously how fast its going it really does scare me a little bit but what can ya do?!

LALU, miss you
Always, Sister Grant

"The Package!!" Post 1

We have been waiting and waiting and WAITING to receive this package of pictures, video clips, and tape from Brooklyn for months now and it finally came yesterday. At first we thought it had been lost in the mail, or that some Filipino was enjoying these wonderful missionary photos somewhere but then realized that Brooklyn never even sent it. After weekly emails of us hounding her for months that she needed to send it nothing. Finally we confronted her at our Christmas phone call, at which point she said she had "sent it" again. Riiiiiight! Well lucky for her she really did :) I thought we'd all smother her if she hadn't again. We haven't received pictures or anything like that since she was in the MTC and in her first area so it was so nice to finally get them since she comes home in June and all. So although I'm sure it's picture and video overload for all of you, here they are.

Our family just laughed at Brooklyns personality still being the exact same and her laugh. We miss that funny laugh of hers. As my mom put it, she has NO SHAME lol. Never embarrassed to sing a silly song or look funny, as you'll see in some of her videos. Also for all of you who know Brooklyn, you know that she's not that tall. Notice in all of the pictures how she is taller than the Filipino people it just cracked us up that she's probably a giant to them, and yet when it shows photos of her with her american friends and companions she's short again. :)






























































































































































































All the bats up in the trees.














































































































































































































Our cousin Sterling :)