I Know These Things are True

8/20/18  I cannot believe that I have gotten to this point... I have seen so many get to their last p-day and watch them all write something special ha ha. I'm not much of a writer but I would like to share how I feel now and a few more thoughts on what's happened during these past 2 years...

Recently I have been reading my journal that I have kept and written in on and off during my mission. Aside from laughing a ton it has helped me realize something, that even though while writing I thought that what I was writing wasn't relevant or important... it is very important to me now, and I am so happy that I wrote at least something... because it has helped me realize that ever since I got on the plane it's been a learning experience. 

The MTC and my first area were really rough- I will be honest. I was (and still am haha) immature and was not able to stay focused to save my life... it took me a long time to get my act together, and I had to work really hard to start improving in that aspect. More than anything, God's grace made it possible, because people do not change as fast as I did. I know that there was divine intervention there, because if there wasn't, I would probably be the same as I was then. working through that was just the beginning of the changes that would happen throughout my mission.

I soon found myself in my second area, Moyobamaba. By then I could speak better and was somewhat confident in myself and in my abilities as a missionary. But that was soon put to the test! I soon found a lot of opposition in almost everything that we did, day after day we tried and tried without seeing much results... There were several occasions where I went to sleep crying because of how hard it was, but oh man were we blessed. Everything good that ever happened in that area was a blessing from heaven. We had real success, converts who are still active in the church today, and I was blessed in the experiences that I had. It was all for obedience, we did our best, and the Lord came through. Up until now it has been my favorite area.

After Moyo and up until the offices, things were crazy, two short transfers in two different cities were exciting and I learned several things in those transfers. I had my hardest companions in those changes, we had a lot of difficulties but we always were able to work out our differences. In all we were blessed, we also saw a few baptisms, but I don't feel like they were real converts. It was then when I learned not to baptize people just for numbers, and I felt a lot of guilt for not being more careful... But then I soon got to the offices and the whole mission changed...

 It was strange being in charge. I was used to having someone there to help me but when you only respond to the president, I had to rely very heavily on personal revelation. It was there when I learned that the Book of Mormon is so important. Not reading made things very hard and I felt the spirit much less often and with less strength. It really is the iron rod. If we are to have His guidance we need to read it and treasure what it says. Since my time there I have seldom gone a day without reading something from the BOM. 

And now I'm here.. haha the hardest area for last. It has been really rough but I have learned more about the will of God and what He wants for me. I also learned that I need to accept it, and be happy with what he has given me. It's not easy, but necessary. I would like to end with my testimony:

I know that this is the true church, there is opposition because it is the truth, and that we can obtain happiness here and forever if we keep our covenants and stay true to the Lord. He lives. He loves us more than we know and has a plan for each and every one of us. The Book of Mormon is true and is the evidence that this is God's work. It has the power to change lives and hearts, and heals all who need Christ. It testifies of Him and guides us in our lives. Prayer is the way we receive revelation and guidance and without it we would be lost forever. I know these things are true because I have seen their truthfulness during these two years and cannot and will not deny it. This I share in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

T Minus Three Weeks

6/18/18  Well its been a while... These past few weeks have been fun haha, we have had some cool experiences, but for now I would like to quickly talk about our investigator that we have and the progress she is making!

First off, a couple weeks ago I wrote about a lady who is super duper catholic and had turned down various missionaries before I got here. She had a dream about the Book of Mormon, which I wrote about and we were trying to help her understand it... well she still has no idea what it means haha... buuuut, she had another dream! and in this dream she saw her mom and what we have determined to be the temple! Her mom passed away a few years ago, so putting that together, we were able to talk about family history work and the work we do for the dead! It was an awesome experience to be able to explain that to her, especially because she has had a very difficult past, especially with her parents. It was a joy to explain what the power of Christ can do. She now has a baptismal date for the end of this month!

Its been amazing to see such a change in so little time. The answer was simply the Book of Mormon. it has the power to change lives and I cannot express the appreciation I have for it. It is revelation straight from God, and I know that it will help anyone who needs Christ in their lives. I think the scrip´ture of the week should be Moroni 10:3-5. The promise is true, and I invite all who have doubts to ponder the words of moroni. Have a great week, and HAPPY FATHERS DAY!!!

7/2/18   Well, it finally happened haha, Sister Marianela got baptized this last Friday, and what an experience it was! I mentioned her a few weeks ago and talked about her conversion and her experiences that she had, and the end result was a wonderful service that was possibly one of the most interesting and stressful that i had been a part of. 

We had all the preparations set in place, the font was full, and we were all set! And then, literally as we were walking into the font, we found it almost empty!!! Wow what a shock that was! It then became a race to fill the font haha. It was not what i expected, but about a half an hour and 40 buckets of water later, we had the baptism! It was great, especially to hear the testimony of Marianela, who talked about how she wanted nothing to do with the church for the longest time, but her heart was softened and as she began to read the BOM she began to understand everything. What a great experience. 

Something else that happened that was curious was what her granddaughter said after. She is 8 and was a baptism for the branch, but before going into the font she said that there was a voice whispering in her ear that she shouldn't do it. She got scared, but did it anyways and felt much better after. There really is opposition in all things, even in something like that. There was something there that did not want us to perform those ordinances. But now they are members of the church, and will be blessed for their obedience. 

I know that this is the true Church, sometimes when we see opposition, we think that it means that it is wrong or incorrect, but for me, it is just another confirmation that it is true. It makes me think of what the savior taught in John 16:33. He overcame the world, and we can too. Have a great week and don't stop reading the Book of Mormon!!!

8/5/18  I am dumbfounded... I don't know where time went and the worst part is that I know that I will never get it back... Well it's been a fun few weeks, I realize I haven't written almost anything for about a month and I'm sorry about that, I hope that this letter will somewhat make that up! 

Anyways, my time here in Nauta has been interesting, its probably the most unique area that i have ever had, and its definitely has had its ups and downs. 

When I first got here there really wasn't much to begin with, just one real investigator and a ton of fake ones.... It has been interesting trying to find people who are really interested in what we have to say. One of the major issues that we face is that we do find people who have interest, but then we find out that they all work by the river, the majority of them travel several hours by boat to the thousands of little river villages there are here, and it is very frustrating when you find someone who is perfect and 5 minutes later you realize they wont be here for the next 3 months... I cannot even count how many times that has happened haha. All we can do is continue trying to find those who the Lord is preparing, and he really is preparing people to receive us.

This week we had a fun lesson in church, where an interesting scripture was shared, its in Ephesians 4:22-24. It really has made me take a look at myself, and think about my time here in the mission. It goes along with Mosiah 3:19, the natural man is and always will be an enemy of God. I hope you all have a great week, and that things go well! ~ Love, Elder Grover