This week was CRAAAAZYYYY!! I feel like I just get more stressed out every week but it’s managable. Honestly it was kind of a rough week haha but I’m chillin. The mission (unfortunately) isn’t full of spiritual highs 27/7 and this week can testify. But reguardless, the blessings still come and the sun always comes back out. Monday night was pretty boring because nobody wanted to talk to us or open their doors. After stopping by a few people in an apartment complex and knocking a few doors, I decided to call this guy Eduardo. I don’t remember being prompted to or even why I felt like we should call him but I just went for it. We ended up having a super cool phone lesson talking about faith and prayer in Ether 12. I ended with a prayer and he said, “can I tell you something?” then proceeded to tell us that he felt so much peace and calm after the prayer and after talking with us. I explained to him that he was feeling the Holy Ghost. It was really cool and a good way to start off a crappy week I guess.
Tuesday we had Zone Conference!! I always love zone conference so freaking much! It’s always so spirit filled and I love hearing President and Sister Seitz speak and give us council. Then I get to see a bunch of my friends from other Zones! ALSO, Elder Grubbs pulled a little prank… hehe. So every zone conference we have car inspections. So we get there fill out a paper saying everything is working properly, fill windsheild wiper fluid, check oil, etc. After that we go inside and the vehicle coordinator goes through and looks at all the cars and makes sure they’re clean and what not. For the last 5-6 weeks we have kept a baby carseat in our car that we found. My idea was to wait for some sisters to go inside after doing their own inspection, plant the carseat without anyone seeing and then Elder Bell (The vehicle coordinator) would look in their car and see the carseat. (Obviously a mission rule is to not babysit or drive anybody besides missionaries in the mission vehicles) So hopefully he would see it and assume they babysat or something like that. Unfortunately he either didn’t see it or didn’t care lol. But when the sisters went back to their car after zone conference they were so confused. It was hilarious. I also managed to find tihis super thick book on raising children. It was something like how to raise children from before they are born up until their teenage years. So I threw that book in there too haha. That book has been passed around from missionary to missionary so I have no idea who has in now lol. I thought it was pretty funny though.
Wednesday we went on exchanges and Elder Larsen came with me. He taught me how to solve a rubix cube so now I’m cool 
But also I’m so proud of myself haha cause I’ve always wanted to learn but always gave up. That night we were at an apartment complex up north in Elder Larsen’s area and as we drove passed the dumpster, something caught my eye. Low and behold, there was a crib laying next to the dumpster. I looked at Elder Larsen and we both just knew. I decided that the Lord was just begging me to do another prank. I mean I can’t just not take an opportunity that was so clearly placed in front of me. So naturally we snuck into the other Elder’s apartment and replaced Elder Anderson’s bed with the crib. We took the mattress and crammed it in the closet with the washer and dryer and then put the bed frame out on the deck because they never use it. So when you walk in there’s just one bed and then a crib with Elder Anderson’s stuff next to it. I’m not gonna lie, I thought it was so funny. I would randomly think about it and just start laughing out loud. Before we went inside we were talking with the other Elders and I just subtly said, “Hey Elder Anderson, sleep good tonight”. Little did he know… haha it still cracks me up just thinkning about it.
Thursday was super hectic with meetings and planning. It was so exhausting just going from one thing to the next. We had dinner with the Pumphreys which was interesting cause I just sat there quiet the whole time while Elder Anderson talked to them about Anime. But I’m glad he was able to connect with some members that can relate with him. Afterwards we had a little mini English class with Yaskareli and Neris. It was so funny because they could not for the life of them pronounce the words “breakfast” or “usually”. Everyone was laughing and having a good time. We were supposed to have a lesson at the church with Mike at 8:00 but he came early at like 7:15 so we just had to improvise and have a joint lesson with Yaskareli, Neris, and Mike. It was super cool though becaue Mike was able to testify and give his perspective as a recent convert. I talked about how Mike has been such a great example to me of humility and patience with everything in his life. He then talked about the importance of Christ and baptism. He mentioned that I had baptized him just 3 or 4 weeks prior and how that moment changed him forever. It was cool too because it brought up baptism in a casual way and we had a super good discussion about it. It was a great lesson and hearing Mike’s testimony was really powerful.
After Yaskareli and Neris left, Mike talked to us for a little bit. He is the main manager at the Firestone in Mesquite and he was telling us about some people he works with. There was one guy in particular (We’ll call him Jim) that always swore and had bad language and just didn’t represent himself very well. Mike prays every morning at work and as he was kneeling and praying, Jim tapped him on the shoulder and was trying to talk with him. Mike just turned to him and talked to him for a few minutes about how Jim could clearly see he was talking to his Father in Heaven. He said he needs God in his life more and to have more respect for him as our Father in Heaven. Mike talked about a few other things with us and basically just explained how it was a harsh but good teaching moment for him to help Jim realize these things. The following day Jim asked Mike if he could pray with him and bless his lunch. It was cool to see how Mike prioritizes the Lord in his life and isn’t afraid to show that. He has so much love and charity for his Father in Heaven and he’s proud of it. As a missionary it’s a little different beacuse we go around and teach and do this stuff all day. However, it caused me to reflect on my life before the mission and even how I want it to be after the mission. We made a covenant to take the name of Christ upon ourselves. Are we expressing that promise we made to Heavenly Father? Do all of our actions denote that we are aware of our identity as a child of God? Do people look at us and view us as an example of Jesus Christ? And to move that question further, Are we striving not only to LOVE, and SHARE, but to INVITE others to come unto Christ? Are we taking advantage of every opportunity the Lord gives us to invite others into the fold of God? I know that when I go home and have to take Christ’s name off my chest, I hope people view me the same as they do now. That even without his name visible on my chest, his name is visible through my actions. I want to have the courage like Mike to lovingly help people see everything they are missing out on. I want to always be an example of Christ no matter where I go or who I talk to.
Saturday was actually a lot of fun. We went to a member’s house to help them basically remodel. He is in a wheelchair because he only has one leg and definitely is not able to put new cabinets in. We got there and the place was absolutely disgusting. They had food and dishes everywhere on the table, stove, countertops, everything. Nothing was organized or anything just thrown wherever there was room. There was grease and grime all over the walls and it was so bad. We tore out the “cabinets” which were just 2×4’s and plywood on top. Then tore out some drywall and replaced it and then put the new cabinets in. There was some measurement issues so we couldn’t put the new sink in and some doors wouldn’t have been able to open and stuff. But we scrubbed the crap out of the walls and even though it looks super dirty still it looks a lot better. But that was fun. Hermana Ramirez saw my facebook post and didn’t ask, but told me I would be singing and playing in Church next sunday. Wish me luck… But I practiced for that and for another video for the Spanish mission page. It’s a bit stressful but also really relaxing for me to take a little break and just play the guitar and ukulele and sing. Helped me slow down and live in the moment I guess. Definitely something I needed this week.
Sunday was good, Yaskareli came to church again!! She is literally so cool and I’m super excited for her. She has just been slurpin up the gospel 
(Insert slurping sound) But we introduced her to another young lady in the ward thats about her age, like 21 and that was super good. She’s shy but I think starting to get more comfortable at church and with the members. On the way home from church we saw 2 paintings on the side of the road so we copped those and hung them in the apartment. Slowly we keep finding/buying random things and filling the apartment lol. I know Elder Jackson hates it but we think it’s so fun.
Today we’ve got ZONE PDAY!! We’re having a big FEAST so we’re gonna be eating good. I made some no-bake cookies last night that ima bring too.
I already did a little spiritual thought but I also wanted to add a few things I liked from Zone Conference. Sister Seitz shared a few quotes that I loved. One of them was, “Prayer is the preparation for miracles.” Also, “Prayer is the passport to peace.” Which is definitely one of my favorites because I have seen that so many times in my life. She gave an amazing training on prayer. She talked about how we can’t have peace without prayer and how we need to truly ‘believe’ that our prayers will be answered. She said “Heavenly Father expects more than merely asking.” It’s the same thing with faith. Faith is an action word and we have to put in that effort. With prayer we need to pour our hearts out to the Lord and talk to him. We need to believe our prayers will be answered and show Heavenly Father that you have the faith for your prayers to be answered. Heavenly Father is eagerly waiting to bless us. We just have to go to him. One thing that President Seitz said that really hit me, not sure if he was quoting someone else or just saying it, but he said, “What we see as FRUSTRATION, the Lord sees as PREPARATION.” Wow. How powerful is that?! Life isn’t always sunshine and rainbows. It’s not supposed to be. But everything we go through is just preparing us to be the person Heavenly Father knows we can become. Sometimes we need to sit back and acknowledge this oppurtunity we have been given to feel. We came to this earth to feel every emotion. We are here to live, to grow, to experience, to learn. Even when we feel broken, alone, anxious, self-conscious, inadequate, how amazing is it that we can actually feel these emotions? I am so grateful to be here. To feel. To grow. To learn. I am grateful that Heavenly Father loves me enough to not leave me as who I am right now. I am grateful that he loves me enough to put me through trials and hardships because he knows who I can become. I am grateful to know that even when life gets dark, when I can’t see where I’m going, Christ will direct me exactly where I need to go.
I love you all and pray that you will recognize the oppurtunities God gives you to preach his gospel, and gather his children. Sometimes you gotta laugh, sometimes you gotta cry. But at the end of the day, God loves you, and I love you too. Muchos besos! And remember, God is good all the time, and all the time, God is good.
All my love
Elder Dallin Grubbs
