Hello everyone!! It’s crazy to think this is the last week of the transfer. It feels like I just got here. Elder Spencer has been here for 4 transfers so chances are he’s gonna get transfered but who knows. A lot of people have gone 5 here so we’ll see. We’ve been super busy and it’s been a little hectic but manageable. We’re the head of the Spanish page that’s over the whole mission so it’s been a little wild figuring all that out but it’s been fun.
Wednesday we had dinner with thr De La Cruz family and I had tamales for the first time! They were super good! It definitely meant a lot too because they’re a ton of work to make. They typically only have them for Christmas Eve and other holidays but they made us some! It was fun talking with Hermana de la cruz about Spanish slang. She hates so many different phrases and words. There’s a lot of words that are like English words but a little different like “troca” or “truck” but it’s not even a word in Spanish. But everybody knows what you’re talking about. So it’s words like that that she hates. It was fun talking with them.
That night we stopped by a family that was in our ward boundaries but had been going to the garland ward instead. This guy was a member and then a couple years ago his wife and kids got baptized in the garland ward, and then with covid and work they just didn’t go to church a ton. They were super cool and said they were gonna try to come to church!
Thursday night we were meeting a member at Chick fila for dinner and then he was gonna go to some lessons with the ZLs after. We were waiting for him and the ZLs happened to go to Chick-fil-A for dinner so we talked with them while we waited. He ended up coming like an hour and 15 min late. He fell asleep and then couldn’t find his keys. We just left to go somewhere else and then he called us back saying he was on his way. So we turned around and went back. This kid was talking with us a little while he was working and was so confused when we walked back in. Cause we had just been sitting in there for an hour and watched the other Elders eat. We got in line and he gives me a weird look and was like “what did you forget?” I just looked at him, pointed at the menu and said, “to order”. I thought it was pretty funny. This same kid had to clean out the garbage because someone forgot to put another trash can in their garbage box and people had just been throwing everything away not knowing there wasn’t a garbage. So he cleaned that for like 20 minutes and then got a bucket and mop to clean up the chocolate milk and other stuff. He needed to grab something from the back but ended up tripping on the rug and dumped the whole bucket all over the floor. I felt bad but it was so funny. Prior to the incident he told us we should ask his manager to give him a raise. Needless to say I’m not sure he deserved a raise… but he was a good sport and laughed it off.
We had a super cool lesson with Celia that Hermano Morino joined us for. He basically just did the whole lesson himself but it was super good and it was nice for her to be able to ask questions and talk with a native speaker. The spirit was super strong and it was really cool. She definitely has the desire and wants to learn more.
Sunday was soooo crazy. So Elder Spencer had to give a talk and I just had to bear my testimony. I was still a little nervous and didn’t know what I was going to say. We get to church and the young men needed people to help w the sacrament so I was freaking out not being able to have time to write some thoughts down or find some scriptures. Some other young men came late so it ended up being fine. I only had like 3 sentences I translated and then just tried to talk as much as I could when I was up there. It was only like 3-5 minutes but my brain was so scattered. I was pretty embarrassed because I tripped up a ton and it just wasn’t good Spanish at all. Some people talked to me afterwards but I don’t know if that’s just pity or they actually felt the spirit. Who knows
I sit down and now it’s Elder Spencer’s turn to speak. He typed up his whole talk on his phone the night before and was all ready. He grabs his scriptures that were next to me and he says, “I have no idea where my phone is” and then proceeded to walk to the stand. I was freaking out for him. He just had to give a talk in Spanish with no notes or anything, PLUS the other speaker hadn’t shown up yet! So the bishop told us to take as much time as we wanted/could. Luckily the other speaker came and she had like 13-15 min to speak and it was fine but super crazy. We bolted into the primary after sacrament cause we had to teach the kids “I hope they call me on a mission” but in Spanish. It was fun and the kids were super cute. The teachers had bought tags that were all black and then wrote their names, ie. (Elder Ramirez). They were all excited and it was fun to be with them for a bit.
After church we went over to the Sotos for dinner at 1:00 cause we had the other Elders baptism at 2:30. We left the members house at 2:25 and it was a 10 min drive. We slipped in the back and it was a good service. The guy getting baptized is going into the military and I overheard him telling someone that when he gets there he’s gonna have to tell everyone that he’s a Mormon. I thought it was hilarious.
THEN we prepped for English classes. We set up and then the Philbricks (Senior missionaries) came to join us. They’re over English Connect and it was fun having them there. We only had Jose and MĂłnica but it was a blast. They’re both learning fast and it’s cool to see. Jose drives like over 30 min to come to classes and he was like 30 min late. Luckily they didn’t have time restrictions so we just finished the lesson and ended around 7:00 lol. (We start at 5) Then for the spiritual thought MĂłnica stayed but she’s a member and Jose stayed too! We talked about families and it was cool. The philbricks don’t know any Spanish but they bore their testimonies in English and the spirit was super strong. Jose’s face just lit up and he kept saying “entendĂ” which means “I understood”. It was cool because he was able to understand at least a little bit of what they were saying. He got a little taste of the gift of interpretation of tongues. And even if he didn’t understand everything they were saying, I know he definitely felt the spirit. So it was really cool and I had a lot of fun.
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Spiritual Thought:
I love this quote by William George Jordan, “Happiness does not always require success, prosperity or attainment. It is often the joy of hopeful struggle, consecration of purpose and energy to some good end. Real happiness ever has its root in unselfishness—its blossom in love of some kind” Elder Talmage also says, “True happiness is lived over and over again in memory, always with a renewal of the original good; a moment of unholy pleasure may leave a barbed sting, which, like a thorn in the flesh, is an ever-present source of anguish”. One of the biggest lessons we can learn in life is the difference between pleasure and happiness. There are many things that can give us pleasure. Give us a few moments of thrill and happiness, but vanish in an instant. Once we truly come to understand the gospel of Jesus Christ, his atonement, and come to know him personally, we can experience true happiness. Pure joy is the result of striving to follow Jesus Christ and become more like him.
I hope everyone is doing so amazing and I want you to know I’m praying for y’all. If you ever need anything, I’m always here! I love you all so much 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!
All my love
Elder Grubbs
