Christmastime Hospital Adventures

12/19/16 So first things first... I've been sick the past 3 days. worst part is that I have no idea what I have, I just feel suuuuper aweak with no energy and nausea. Today I'm feeling a bit better, but we shall see how that goes. I go to Iquitos today to finish my passport business, so that'll be cool! Other than that the work has been picking up! we have an entire family that's accepted the baptismal invitation so I'm happy about that, only problem is that they're not married so we might have the opportunity to marry someone! should be fun haha. it being Christmas-time I'm actually a little homesick... so that's kinda new. All I know is that the more I focus on the work the better things seem to be! As far as individual days go, I don't remember all that much so I'll give a brief summary. Week started off good but by mid-week I was having comp trouble. I won't say anything other than common sense is not common... so in the midst of that I got sick and have been on and off dead since Friday afternoon. Fun! Lately I've been reading in D&C and there's some super profound stuff in there thats been helping me as of late. Especially sections 8,9 and 10. And that about sums up this week, really fast just an open apology to anyone I have not responded to. I don't ever have enough time and I type slow... sorry. I love you all and hope everyone has a great week!

p.s. no pics this week... i will send a bunch next monday!

12/26/16 So i really don't know how to start this... but this week was awful. Dengue is the absolute worst, for those of you who don't know, my sickness escalated to Dengue Fever, which is almost the same thing as death haha. Monday I flew out to Iquitos to take care of migrations paperwork, and while I was there I got a nice fever, not fun... and I had that fever until this past Friday. When I got back to Pucallpa Tuesday I collapsed and was hospitalized, and until literally an hour and a half ago, I was in a hospital bed with an iv stuck in my arm. fun! Although I cant be complaining because we actually had a baptism this Saturday! I couldn't go to it but I heard it was awesome. More baptisms should be following! In case anyone is wondering what Christmas is like in a Peruvian hospital, it's pretty much the same as every other day... so other than calling home, Christmas was pretty bland haha. As of right now I want to work more than I ever have in my life. Being sick here is the worst and I felt like a burden all week. These next couple of days will be focused on recovering my energy and the work! Can't wait to get back in the game. Also, I am so grateful for all who prayed for me, I have no doubt that your prayers helped. I love all of you and I can't wait to report bigger and better things next week. 

¡Chao! -Elder Grover

So fun to huddle around the Ipad. The Skype connection failed several times but we did get to talk for a while and the video worked for a few precious minutes! I wondered why he would opt for a white shirt in the hospital and he said the hospital "gowns" were like a mini-skirt on him! And he is anxious to get back to work and be productive. He's lost 25 lbs.- Ten from eating less and walking a ton, and the other from being sick. 

20-Year Old EGGHEAD

12/12/16 So remember last week? I definitely don't! Man was this week a complete turn around, so many things went so much better and I was just loving it. Funny thing is that everything didn't go well... it was just better than last week so I was real happy haha. most of the days were really similar (with the exception of my birthday (: ) so here's a brief overview: 

Monday: p-day will always be a breath of fresh air, I get to write you all, relax and explore. the end of the day is proselyting but if I remember correctly, it went well!

Tuesday: In all honesty, all I remember about Tuesday was we talked to a bunch of people and got turned down... but we did have some awesome discussions!

Wednesday: RAIN. A LOT of rain haha, and when there is rain, there's mud... and oh boy is the mud crazy. my rain boots get a lot of use when there's rain so that's kinda fun. other than that proselyting was the usual, walking and talking. 

Thursday: Zone Conference! pretty much all day we were inside, and I didn't know this but zone conferences are actual a big deal. President Li came down here and we (2 zones) ate dinner with him and sang songs haha. it was a fun day in general haha.

Friday: we went on exchanges today and i went with a gringo! Elder Thomas is his name and he's my zone leader. he's also the one in the pictures haha. And boy is he a good missionary. the thing is he actually teaches me. He forced me to get out of my comfort zone and it helped me a ton, so shout out to him.

Saturday: Birthday!!! so in the morning was service and I got to chop grass with a machete... kinda interesting but fun haha the rest of the day was normal except that night... my pension bought an actual cake... and then I got my face shoved in it... :) didn't really mind it cause it tasted really good haha but then later... my zone leaders who i live with pulled out a weird Peruvian tradition. I got eggs and flour dumped on my head... was I thrilled? haha no. took me a couple minutes to forgive then but when it was all said and done it was a fun experience.

Sunday: Church and proselyting. not much happened other than that haha.

In general things are improving and I'm hoping to see some progress with the people soon. I'm usually hungry (mostly because I eat a lot in general and I don't think Peruvians are used to feeding 6 foot 5 clowns like me) but that's ok. I'm actually trying to get used to it because I think as far as the mission goes, we don't get a ton of food. And no I'm not spending a ton of money on snacks, I'm trying to break that habit too. my comp is still good (he's from arrequipa peru btw) I don't know tall he is but he doesn't go past my shoulder... so yeah

The scripture for the week is Alma 17, go give it a read if you want some spiritual goodness. love you all and hope you all have a great week!

Email 2: I'm officially out of time so this email is illegal, please apologize to people that I don't respond to, I really am always short on time. Also tell grandma terry I love her letters, and I love her too. She's awesome! love you!

Muddy Times and 24-hour Fasts

12/5/16 Yes I finally got a camera, it cost a little more than i was hoping but at this point i dont really care... just happy to have one! this week was a learning week. and when i say learning week i mean it pretty much sucked... like alot. but thats ok because it means i should be growing (hopefully not in height im aready a freak show here). as requested ill do a weekly recap of each day (more or less) so here we go!

Monday: pday!!! it was definitely needed (every pday is great). i got to explore both of the actual malls that are here and that was super cool but it made me both homesick and weirded out. homesick because i saw alot of familiar stuff that reminded me of home and weirded out because there are two giant malls in the middle of the jungle... of course ts city but before there was city there was jungle... weird. anyways later we contacted and one of my zone leaders got the stomach flu and he asked me to give a blessing! super cool experience.

Tuesday and Wednesday: both days were super frustrating as I felt like I wasnt making much progress, and the work here is slow. there's not many people to teach and we have a giant area. It doesnt make much sense I know but it's true. We are usually getting shut down by angry moms and super religious old guys with no teeth. However after a lot of prayer i realized it all depends on me and my attitude, so Wednesday night I decided the next day I'd have a good attitude...

Thursday: woke up in a bad mood. like really bad. No idea why, I just did, so during study i wasnt happy, and then my comp talked to me about patience and its importance. So I tell myself, ok im going to be patient! AND THEN, on the way to lunch we found a car stuck in mud, so what do we do? Serve! long story short I got plastered with mud... not so patient anymore... throughout the rest of the day I kept trying to better my attitude but it wasnt working, and then god stepped in. we have possibly 3 new investigators and an entire family to teach... such a tender mercy. My prayer that night was long...

Friday: so back home friday is usually a fun day with alot of relaxing and getting ready for the weekend. what did I do? I walked :) a lot. all of our appointments fell through and nobody wanted to talk to us... oh boy was my patience tested haha. but according to my journal by the end of it I was in a an ok mood. don't know how haha

Saturday: I'll be quick with this, hardest day ive had. first off we fasted from lunch saturday to lunch sunday, which means no water. i was dying haha additionally noone wanted to talk... ultumatey it wasnt fun, I learned alot about myself that day.

Sunday: never have I ever been more excited for a Sunday in my life... it was so nice just being able to relax and feel the spirit. Not much to say about it other than I needed it haha.

And that concludes the week! for everyone who actually read this far, the mission is hard, but it is a blast. I realize that there is a lack of fun experiences in this letter, but atogether this experience is awesome. I'm beggining to realize why its so important and why everyone stresses the mission so much. its hard, but its incredible. cant wait to see where the mission takes me and how much it will help me. I love all of you very much and I hope you all know how much god loves you. stay close to him and he will make you something amazing. I guess ill throw in a quick scripture: Mosiah chapter 2. its helped me a lot recently. love you all! have a great week!

-Elder Grover

Notes from us back in Cali: We read Mosiah 2 as a family to honor Jordan's mention of how it helped him. We then went around sharing why we thought it helped him. Baylee: When we try to bring happiness to others it can bring happiness to us. Lauren: We need to be obedient to be fully happy. Ty: We need to keep trying in order to be with Heavenly Father. Paul: King Benjamin was humble and worked alongside the people. No one is better than anyone else. This humility is essential in serving and sharing the gospel. Jen: I reflected on a book passage about accepting compliments. Not accepting a compliment is not really humble, it's prideful. We disregard someone's authentic observation about ourselves when we shrug off compliments. Instead, we should acknowledge them with gratitude in a way that say "thank you for seeing that in me". This honors the fact that all good things come from God- every aspect ourselves, our talents, our actions, our appearance, it all comes from God. I'm not sure that helped Jordan but I thought it was important to share.