Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! Last P-day we had a big Thanksgiving dinner as a zone it was so fun. We had sooooo much food and played volleyball, gator-ball, and chair soccer. Our Zone is so sick I love all the companionships. On tuesday we had a lesson with our friend Manuela who has met with missionaries before but it was our first lesson with her. She basically told us she already believes the Book of Mormon to be scripture and it was such a cool lesson!
Wednesday was kinda crazy. So originally we had plans to do like 3-4 hours of service at life message (The food pantry) because it was the day before thanksgiving so they were gonna be super busy. But the morning of they told us they didn’t have very much food and wouldn’t need our help at all. We were devastated. Life message is always so much fun and now we had 4 hours of time to fill. We basically just street contacted and knocked some doors. We were in one area and knocked one door and our member for dinner said she was gonna drop off the food. So we hopped back in the car and headed back home but then they said they were leaving work and wouldn’t drop off dinner for another hour. So we prayed again and headed to a new neighborhood. Sure enough we start talking to this guy named Juan who was outside. He was super sick and we had a really good 45 minute conversation. It was cool to see the Lord just taking us where we needed to be because obviously he needed us in a different area than we started in.
THANKSGIVING!!! We were allowed to have 2 hours worth of dinners so we were hyped! We had a Thanksgiving lunch at 12:00 with a young couple and it was super fun talking with them and updated them on our area and people we were teaching. Then that night we had dinner with BIshop and his family. They are literally the best!! They have the cutest kids and they’re so fun to be around. We played jenga together and it was histerical. After dinner we stayed with Bishop and his wife and called Yaskareli for a phone lesson. We taught part of the plan of salvation and read 2 Nephi 2 together. My Spanish choked a bit ngl but it ended up fine. Bishop explained the Fall of Adam and Eve and why it was all part of God’s plan. His wife talked to her towards the end of the lesson and felt prompted to talk about prayer and how we can receive answers to our prayers. Our last lesson with Yaskareli we talked about how to pray! So we invited her to say the closing prayer and she said the most amazing genuine prayer ever. It was so cool to listen to her especially it being her first prayer with us.
Friday was super good too. We were street contacting and doing some stop-bys before our lesson with the Rojas’ and found this guy named Hernando. We taught the whole Resto and Elder Andersen actually taught a good chunk of the lesson too I was pretty proud. Homie was high fs though lol. When we first knocked on the door he stood at the door looking through the glass part for literalliy a full minute and a half. We just stared at each other it was weird haha. But then we had a lesson with the Rojas’ and it was actually a really good lesson. We planned on going over the Restoration again and showing a video but when we were inside and got talking, our lesson completely changed. Rather than teaching the kids we basically just taught the Mom. I talked about hope and what it really means in a gospel sense. She’s been struggling a lot with family things and what not but I just testified of getting close to God. I explained that the fastest way to find happiness and receive help from the Lord comes down to the basic primary answers; Prayer, Scripture Study, & Going to church. It’s so true though. The fastest way to grow closer to Heavenly father is by doing these 3 things. When we come closer to Heavenly Father is when we can receive the most help. We can get the feelings of peace and comfort that we need. One of the things that I tried to emphasize was that when we come close to God during our hardest times, sometimes he will remove that burden. But more often than not, he strengthens us during those burdens. They aren’t always lifted, but he helps us carry them. I got her to commit to church with her kids. We have been trying to get them to come to church since the first day I got here almost 6 months ago and they have never come to church. Last Sunday they actually showed up and it was so amazing! I literally could not believe it. This is HUGE!!! Especially because we were thinking about dropping them, which would be super hard because we love them so much but if they aren’t keeping commitments and actually coming to church, they aren’t progressing. So this was a massive step in the right direction.
Saturday was kind of a slow day and to top it off we got 2 flat tires. We aired them up and it held a bit but not completely so we knew there were nails or something in them. After dinner we took the car into firestone and they were able to patch them. It took up about an hour and a half and we didn’t even know what to anymore because our plans wouldn’t work out anymore. We decided to stop by a few inactives before it got too late. We went over to this one guy (We will call him Fred). We knocked but no answer, knocked again! But to no avail… so we walked back to the car but as we got to the car he came outside! We asked if there was a time we could share a quick spiritual message with him and he said, “Well I kinda left mormonism” So I politely asked his reasoning. He paused for a moment completely opened up. He said he drinks and doesn’t keep the word of wisdom and he’s made a lot of mistakes and doesn’t think God wants him in his church. I immediately testified of the love of God. I told him that it doesn’t matter what decisions or choices we make in this life, God loves us the same no matter what. Just like any parent, he wants to hear from us, and bless us. I assured him that God is always willing to forgive us no matter how many times we have betrayed him. We only talked for about 10 minutes but it was a very powerful conversation. He was very honest with us and I just tried to explain that God always loves him and we were always there if he needed anything. He was pretty quiet but I felt the spirit teaching him. I don’t know if he’ll ever reach out or come to church soon, but I know he felt the spirit in that moment and it was really cool to see. So that was a huge miracle just being able to talk with him and help him the best we could.
Sunday was craaaazy!! Our friend Javier came to church!! He saw an ad on facebook and requested a missionary visit. We have taught him the restoration and given him a book of mormon but haven’t taught him a ton. He came to church and liked it and it was great! Rojas’ came too so that’s a dub. But earlier in the week a member in Dallas reached out to us to see if we could come help him move a few things. His uncle had passed away and they needed some extra hands with a few heavy things. We booked it there right after church and little did we know it would turn into almost 4 hours of service. The guy that passed away was a hoarder and they have to clean out everything. We’re going back tomorrow to help them too. We also found a possum outside in his pile of stuff too. It was quite the day… after that we went home, made some good ol mac & cheese (Kraft ofc) then boogied up to Javier’s house for a lesson. We were planning on teaching the Plan of Salvation and reading 2 Nephi 2 with him. As we got there I felt like we should talk a little bit about the sacrament before the Plan of Salvation since he came to church. We reread the sacrament prayers and talked about why they are so important. We explained covenants and ordenances and how as members we covenant to take the sacrament every week and it’s like being baptized all over again. He was super curious and asked us how someone becomese a member. So we basically went into the Gospel of Jesus Christ and taught him that instead. It was super cool to see the spirit guiding us according to his needs. We planned on teaching a completely different lesson but realized that’s not what he needed. It was a very powerful lesson and we were able to read 2 Nephi 31 together (which is an absolute banger of a chapter). It was so dope and we’re excited to see how his prayers and reading go.
I just want to end with a quote by Elder Klebingat from his October 2014 talkl
“Some trials come through your own disobedience or negligence. Other trials come because of the negligence of others or simply because this is a fallen world. When these trials come, the adversary’s minions begin broadcasting that you did something wrong, that this is a punishment, a sign that Heavenly Father does not love you. Ignore that! Instead, try to force a smile, gaze heavenward, and say, “I understand, Lord. I know what this is. A time to prove myself, isn’t it?” Then partner with Him to endure well to the end. Spiritual confidence increases when you accept that “often trials and tribulations are allowed to come into [your life] because of what [you] are doing right”
I love you all and constantly pray for you. Thank you for your love and support as well. The little thoughts, prayers, and emails mean everything to me. More than you will ever know. Thanks for reading my super long emails lol. I love you all dearly. Muchos besos. And remember, God is good all the time, and all the time, God is good 
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All my love
Elder Grubbs
