Monday, February 22, 2010

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

Monday, February 8, 2010

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

Monday, February 1, 2010

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