After spending 1/4 of my mission in Paris and transfers happening tomorrow, I accepted the inevitable sorrow of leaving. However, to my surprise, (which I shouldn’t be very surprised) God performed a MIRACLE!!! IM STAYING PARIS FOR ANOTHER TRANSFER!!! which is absolutely crazy! I was praying that I would stay because I don’t wanna leave. And here we are!! Elder DeSpain and I are both staying and we’re getting a trainee!! So I’ll be training a greenie in my 1st area which is crazy. But I’m I’m excited!! I was avoiding the fact that I would have to say my goodbyes but luckily I don’t have to!!
This week was crazy busy. We’re teaching so many people and it’s so hard to keep track of all of them. We never get studies because we’re always teaching haha. Which is definitely an awesome problem to have. But it’s definitely weird.
Alfred is still struggling with the Word of Wisdom but we’re meeting with him just about everyday so it’s been really good. We took a picture with him and his wife Norma that I’ll put below. I always love meeting with Alfred and saying goodbye to him was the biggest one I wasn’t looking forward to. So I’m super glad I get to keep teaching him for 6 more weeks. He’s super close to baptism he just has to quit his habits! So please keep him in your prayers.
Damian is this cute 9 year old boy we’re teaching and it’s always super fun. We went to the church for a phone call lesson and we walked past this classroom and I hear “hey!!” And it was Damian at activity days running out the door towards us. He came and gave us hugs and it was really cute. Unfortunately, last night we received a call from his grandma. His grandma has custody of him because his parents are drug addicts and could never keep him in a safe environment. When he was 7 his mom told him he was the reason she was going to kill yourself. I can’t imagine the trauma that he’s been 1àathrough. But he was at his Papa John’s for the 4 day weekend and his mom came by and forced him to go with her. So basically he got kidnapped by his mom. His grandma called us crying to cancel our lesson for Tuesday. She went to court and showed all the legal paperwork and whatnot but all they said they could do is a welfare check. She was so upset. She’s basically raised Damian his whole life. So please keep Damian in your prayers that he will return home and safely.
I had a couple really amazing spiritual experiences this week. The first was just a super cool lesson with Alfred. Recently our district and Elder DeSpain and I hsve really been focusing on recognizing the spirit and following promptings. We had a lesson plan for Alfred to watch this talk by Elder Holland and talk about it. When we got there I felt super strongly about reading 1 Nephi 8 with him. If you don’t already know, that’s the chapter with Lehi’s dream. I love the analogy of the iron rod and the path of righteousness to the tree of life. It was really cool explaining it to Alfred. We talked about it and it was super cool, then we decided to watch the talk. We didn’t even realize it, but in the talk Elder Holland talked a ton about Lehi’s dream and even mentioned some things we discussed. It was sooooo cool! He started talking about Lehi’s dream and Elder DeSpain and I just look at eachother in disbelief. It was such a neat experience to see the blessings of teaching by the spirit.
The next experience I had was with an Ex-communicated member that we’ve been teaching. Usually we’ll talk a bit, maybe a scripture or read a talk and that’s about it. He makes A LOT of jokes so its not always super spiritual haha but it’s fun. This time we met at the church and it was so cool. He basically talked the whole time and just let everything out. He expressed how he wished people were more ‘real’ or more genuine when bearing their testimonies. He brought up an interesting point. He wished people would talk about not necessarily their mistakes but what shaped them to grow their testimony. He said it always bothers him when a parent goes up and whispers to their kid what to say. He said, “they should go up there and bear their personal testimony so their kids can watch and see how to grow their own”. It was cool. But then he basically bore his testimony to us and it was so cool. I was on the verge of tears. He was crying and talking about how the atonement has changed his life and how he read the book of Mormon in prison and he is changing and it was just so awesome. He said something that struck me. I started tearing up when he said this. He said, “I haven’t seen my 2 daughters in years. I want to be a part of their lives more than anything. But if I sacrifice that relationship so they can have that relationship with their Heavenly Father, then it’s worth it. That’s more important to me, that they grow closer to their father and heaven.” He said this as tears streaming down his face. I just thought to myself, ‘This is a man who completely understands having a broken heart and contrite spirit. He had made a lot of mistakes. He knows that. But he is the most humble and meek person I have ever met. I honestly look up to him so much. Just like Alma the younger, he had a change of heart and realized he couldn’t do it alone anymore. He needed his Savior Jesus Christ. It was such a powerful lesson. I learned more from him in that lesson than I could ever teach him. It was literally so cool. His testimony is so strong.
I hope ya’ll had a great week and I look forward to hearing from all of you!! Your thoughts and prayers go a long way. I love you all and I’m so grateful for your love and support. Muchos Besos!! And remember, God is good all the time, and all the time, God is good!!
Best regards,
Elder Dallin Grubbs
Addy:2526 Lamar Ave. Apt 225 Paris TX 75460
