Progress in Paradise!

5/8/17 Another week down, and yes this week was different from the others- was it better? no haha but i definitely 

learned a lot from this week, so ill go ahead and describe what happened. We entered this past week with 4 

investigators that were solid, and others who were looking good to be new investigators... and then some 

stuff happened, no one had time, nobody answers their phone and really I feel like we just got abandoned... 

so now we have the same family that we started with and no one else... FUN. During all of that the stress was 

fun to deal with and on top of that contacting was super hard, pretty much only finding people who wanted

 to discredit the church and us... so yeah, kinda rough but to be honest, I'm not that frustrated about it. During 

that whole time I definitely was frustrated, especially with myself because of this random wave if failure... but

 in the end I really can see how this was what I like to call a "learning week". I've had many of these during my 

time here but I'm not very good at recognizing them. What I actually learned was based mainly in faith. i read

Ether 12 and Hebrews 11 and it just opened my eyes. Enos also is awesome to read about faith, and before i 

really thought that faith was 99% action and 1% trust. but really there's a lot more trust to be had. I really 

encourage anyone reading this to read those scriptures, and to also look for others that may be referenced if 

you may be having a hard time, because he is always there, and if there are trials in your life, it is because he loves 

and trusts you to be able to overcome them. The things that happen in life really do happen for a reason, and every

opportunity like that is a chance to grow and learn, to ultimately become like him. I hope you all have a great week 

and I'll see you all next week on Skype! -E Grover

(Jordan's district- mostly Latinos, and a shot of the Moyobomba area)

5/15/17 Well, to put this week in one word, it'd have to be: Searching. Now one can apply this in several ways so I'll go ahead and explain. Really, we spent most of our time searching for new people haha because like I explained before, we have no one  who really is progressing. So that meant a lot of contacting, but really we focused on the members, because there isn't a better way to find people than through the members! So that's a whole process that should produce good fruits, but there's another way we've been searching that I haven't explained. Really I've been searching for my talents, and not the talents that are obvious, like "being tall". The ones that you need to find and develop... we had a lesson in Sunday School about talents, and it made me think, What are mine? So I've decided that I need to find and give it my all to develop my talents in order to move the work forward. May sound kinda corny but I don't care. To me it sounds like fun and like a challenge. So onward with that!

Ill go ahead and share an awesome scripture with you guys now because I have nothing else to say! (way to go gringo) MORMON 9:27-28. If we ask, he will comply, but make sure it is for a righteous cause! love you all, have a great week! -Elder Grover

P.S. HAPPY MOTHERS DAY 

(Jordan's picture is what he took during Skype... of us!)

5/22/17 Yes we finally are seeing some progress here in paradise! Firstly the family that we've been working with forever got married and now they have a green light for baptism, hopefully that happens this coming weekend. So there's that and we are starting to see people come out of the woodwork as we continue working with the members and contacting through our own efforts. We have several people who are very likely potential baptisms, and I cant wait to see them all progress. 

Today for p-day we have something special planned, were gonna climb the MORRO CALZADO, in other words the freaking huge hill that's just outside of moyo. they say that the climb sucks but the view is beyond amazing, so i should have some pretty rad pictures by the end of today. Super stoked!!! 

My comp and I have had some interesting talks lately, and I'm starting to see just how weird he really is... I'm not saying that I'm perfect, nor that I'm not a little bit weird, but my comp confuses me sometime. Last night he lost his sweat rag that he uses to wipe his face every 5 seconds (he sweats a lot) and at first I thought he lost the one thing in the world he truly loved. Heck I thought there'd be a funeral or something for his 100% cotton 6 inch by 6 inch sweat soaked cloth haha. I have no idea but to each his own right?

This week I found a super awesome scripture in DC 64: 33 and 34. I heard that right when I needed to, from small things come the big things. LOVE YOU ALL HAVE A GREAT WEEK

(Family with couple getting married and ready for baptism this weekend!)

The people are stubborn and religious, best part about that is so are we :)

5/1/17 So yeah, this week went by a little slower... but still feel like nothing happened and I'm here again typing with no new news and little progress made... Yes I know I have the blame for that but I'm trying... its not like I sleep til 10 every day like I used to haha. So yeah. we still have the family of 3 on baptismal date for the 20th of may, and we're hoping to see two more dates come up this next week. Not sure of that will happen but we can hope! (and have faith). I've been noticing throughout my mission that there are some time when you feel like your personal progression is going well, and others when it seems like you're stuck in a rut. Still trying to figure out the reason for this but I have a few ideas on why. The main 2 are lack of repentance and lack of humility. Honestly its probably both haha.

The weather here is still the best and I enjoy every minute of cool air. The catch to that is the shower... oh my gosh the shower is freezing, in the states it was a joy to shower but here its a chore haha. but hey, when I get back I'll be appreciating the blessing of hot water. The food is same old same old and so are the people, stubborn and religious. Best part about that is so are we :)

Scriptures this week can be found in Mark 14:38. also 2 Nephi 4. One of the biggest obstacles we have here in this world is ourselves. Conquer the flesh, obtain eternal life. YEAH BABY. Hope all goes well this week and I love you all! -Elder Grover

4/24/17 Ok ill be honest, this week kinda just happened and I don't know how I'm already here typing again haha. Seems like time doesn't exist... oh well. I am a little disappointed about this week because I feel like we really haven't done anything and we are in the same place as last week... we have a baptism scheduled for the 13 of may so that's awesome but other than that its like sifting through a sea of really indecisive people. I hope that we will be able to see some progression this week as we close off the transfer... speaking of which, next week is transfers! I highly doubt anything will change but ya never know...

Lately I've been pretty stagnant in my personal progression (at least that's how I feel) so this week I'm going to basically go crazy I my studies and obedience and try to apply the atonement in every moment. Recently I restudied Alma 26 and boy did that open my eyes again haha. Ammon basically goes grateful mode after the crazy success they had with the Lamanites... and I really liked some of the verses, especially 36. I'm going to be applying these things in my work this week and work with an attitude of gratitude!

I really don't have many funny or interesting stories... I guess I'll describe one of the investigators we have because he is really interesting haha. He is 73 years old and is named Edison... He works on a farm and grows mandarins and bananas and his hobbies include fishing and hunting!!! one of the only people I have met that actually owns a gun... to make things weirder he is married but doesn't live in the same house as his wife... super weird. were probably going to drop him because he refuses to come to church... so we'll see.

4/17/17 I don't know where this week went... honestly it's like time doesn't exist, and unless you actually think about it, it flies. unbelievable haha. to be completely honest I don't remember the majority of what happened this week, just a lot of working and trying to get people to take the right steps towards happiness. We have several investigators, but unfortunately they aren't doing to well at keeping their commitments... however if all goes well we should have a baptism this month of a family of 3. Hope that goes well other than that were pretty much filtering the people weve talked to and are looking for those who are ready. If all goes well the coming months should be awesome.

Still loving the weather here, nice and cool and the views are still amazing. Last week we went to a "viveria" where theres a bunch of plants and cool stuff. The city of moyo is famous for the orchid flowers that grow here, and they're pretty much flowers with crazy shapes haha. ill send some pics. today were planning on playing soccer so that should go well, always fun to run around and blow off some steam. 

Scriptures this week I would recommend reading would be Alma 11-12. Super awesome stuff about the plan of salvation and the atonement. Thank you all for your support and I hope you have a great week. -Elder Grover

p.s. HAPPY EASTER