Argentina - November 23, 2015

Macri Ganó/ feliz dia de Gracia!!!! les Quiero mucho!!!!!

Howdy y'all! Hey mom:)

how is everyone doing in the wonderful snow of Blanding, Utah?  You are right.. there is no Thanksgiving here in Argentina.. I know, it is a sad day. I'm not going to lie, I wouldn't mind a good turkey and, oh my, a piece of pumpkin pie... oh that sounds so good right now, or any kind of pie for that matter!  But we will see what me and my companion can do to make a the holiday a delight:) Oh, and I just remembered, a good glazed spiral ham.. that sounds so good right now! Did you know they don't even have brown sugar here in Argentina? 

Beaver won the state football game? That is really cool, better than South Summit, I know my senior year the Beaver kids where a lot nicer than the South Summit team, so that is cool that they won. Didn't South Summit win the last 2 years.. wouldn't want them to win 3 in a row, but anyway, that is cool for Beaver!

Yeah, I would think it would be very hard for the family of Tamra, with Thanksgiving coming up.. but there is always the great plan of God to be thankful for.  Please tell them that I love them and that they are in my prayers. 

Holy smokes, that sounds like it should be a very wonderful family Thanksgiving! You are going to have to take lots of pictures and send them to me! With all the family there, you will have to tell them all hi for me and that I love them all so very much and am so grateful for all they do for me.  I have the best family in the whole world!

Snow.. crazy.. I haven't seen snow in 2 years... does that even exist? Ha, but that is wonderful that you guys are getting snow! Because snow means water, and water is always good in Blanding! Christmas, wow that is coming up, oh, we got an email from our assistants saying that we will not have our regular P-day the week of Christmas, but we will have it on Christmas, and they want the calls to be no longer than 45 minutes, just so you guys know. 

But, this week has been really good, we were able to teach a lot of lessons and get to know a lot of people. We are still working with Ramon, he just needs to stop smoking. Just one last step, he has stopped smoking a lot, but to stop completely is just a little hard for him, but we will see how that goes. Also, we got a reference from a sister in the ward for her brother, he is 31 and lives with his mom. He is pretty quiet and doesn't like talking much, but we were able to talk to him, and he came to church this week:) I was so happy to see both him, Juan, and Ramon at church.  Every person helps because we only have about 25 people come out on good week. I guess a long time ago, well like 10 years ago, the church here in Vera was really strong and they were about to build a church building. But then the Branch President and one of his councilors and his secretary where traveling to a meeting and got in a car crash.. all 3 died. After that the church really started to fall, but we will help it grow! Ha!

So yesterday was the voting day here in Argentina for president, so we went to church and then we stayed in the pension all afternoon. I took a good old Sunday night nap, so that was so nice, but it was okay, we just stayed inside. But anyway, Marci won, I don't know who he is or if he is good, but I have seen his posters a lot, so that is interesting.

Right now we are in Reconquista with our zone leaders, we had a zone activity and played volleyball and ate some pizza, so that was fun. It is crazy what happens to a person's body without exercise, I am so out of shape!  I can walk all day, but other than that, wow, it is crazy, ha! 

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so grateful for you mom, you are the best mom in the world, I want you to know that! I am grateful for the whole wonderful family that I have! You guys are the best, I am so grateful for the atonement of our savior, and his love for us and this church! I am grateful to be here in Argentina serving the Lord at this time, and for all the help that He has given me. I am thankful for you all, thanks mom for all you do! I love you scripture, it is amazing!

love you all, Elder Grover

Happy Thanksgiving!:)

Argentina - Novmember 16, 2015

Por fin!!!!!!

Hey mom, 

WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTT.................................................................. nooooooooooooooooonnnooooooo! I can't believe it, Jordan is getting married, miracles happen;) but really, I cannot believe that, that is so crazy, who would have thought. I am just so stoaked right now that my brother is getting married!!!! That is just, well, I wish you guys could see my face right now, it has a big smile. I am so happy for them, and I hope that they are happy also! Tell him congrats, and tell Ericka welcome to the family!:) But they are waiting a long time! If they are waiting that long, they might as well just wait another 2 months so I could be there! Ha, but yeah, we never know, all my bros are just dropping like flies.... I am still throwing my guess that they all will get married while I am gone, Jade still has like 10 months... is he dating anyone? But other than that, was the condo pretty cool? Is Jordan's big TV there? They are just rockin' the bachelor pad, ha. But Jordan and Ericka gettting married in the new Provo temple is super super cool, that is going to be super, super awesome! 

Please tell Tamra that my heart goes out to her and her family! What a terrible, terrible thing.. I hope that her and JJ are doing okay right now! That is something that is so hard and that is so unexpected. As we all know, the plan of salvation is something that we all can apply more in our life to become better, or to heal up the wounds that come so suddenly on us! The death of a loved one is probably one of the hardest things to deal with, but if there wasn't hurt then there isn't love, and that is why it hurts is because of the love that we have for that  person.  And we can rely on our faith that in the next life we can be with her, that through the wonderful covenants that we make in the temple they can be together forever. I don't know how people can even live without the knowlege of the Plan of Salvation. I want you to know that I know that the Plan of Salvation is true, I can't answer all the questions but one thing I do know is that we can put or faith in the atonement to seek help. I can't tell you why that happened to her, but what I can tell you is that God does know and she is with Him and that her work now is on the other side of the veil. It is so hard.. I don't know exactly how hard it is for them, and I don't want to, but I know the Savior knows and that he has felt everything they are feeling and that through Him all will be right. That is where the prayers come in!! But again, tell Tamra I love her and that her and her family are in my prayers! Another thing is that in the Book of Mormon there are lots of things that are bad that happen.. 2 Nephi 2 and Alma14 are some chapters that are really good, and that can help. 

I don't know if I told you, but as a mission we are trying to read the whole Book of Mormon in the month of November, and so far I am in Alma 26, and it is wonderful! I invite everyone to read it because it is really super amazing and there is always something that we can learn. 

But to talk a little about the week, so I went to Reconquista last Tuesday because I went on splits with the zone leader.  It was really good, there are some really cool people in their area, some really cool people that are prepared to receive the gospel. One of the guys we were teaching had two cow heads that he was going to eat, yes the head, ha, brain and eyes and all! He said it was really good. Luckily we weren't able to try any because we had to be back in the apartment.. but I thought that was interesting, ha. But anyway, I was there until Wednesday because then my companion just came here with the other zone leader because we had a multi zona in Resistencia that day. It was a little weird because I didn't know very many of the people, all of the people that where here when I got here are home or are going home. But is was really good, they talked a lot about the Book of Mormon, which I think is really good, I love the Book of Mormon! Oh also, so there is this Hermana from Monroe, Utah, do you know what high school that is? South Sevier, she played volleyball and basketball, so she has been in our gym, ha, small world. And Brad Thornton was one of her teachers, even smaller world, ha. 

So it was a little hard because I wasn't in my area for quite a long time... and we did have a baptism planned for Ramon this week, but he didn't meet his goal to stop smoking... but we are still working with him. Then another one of our investigators was talking to Jehovah's Witnesses and we didn't get to talk to him, so that was discouraging.

But we keep moving on in the service of the Lord. Oh, a quick little story about Floracia, a recent convert that lives in our area, she is really cool and a great example how the gospel can change people. When she was 7 she was diagnosed with this heart disease, and now she is on a waiting list to have a heart transplant. But when she was 7 and got diagnosed her mom left and her little brother died, and then her older brother who was 14 committed suicide. About threes years ago her dad died and she went into depression, with that and her heart problem, she was in a really bad condition.  The sisters found her a year ago and changed her life, now she is such a happy person, even with all the medication she is taking.. and she wants to serve a mission. But I know God loves us and he wants the best for us. But I've got to go, mom, I love you! Tell Jordan congrats and send my love to the family, especially Tamra and JJ. I love you all. Have a wonderful week!
love Elder Grover

Argentina - November 9, 2015

Good Afternoon Mother,

Hey mom, I am doing great, how are you doing? Don't worry too much, I am doing pretty good, pretty dang good.! No need to worry:)  But no, this week was really good. I still cannot believe that Amanda is married, that is crazy! But that is true with Candice, it is weird how everyone is just getting more related to one another!  Ha, it is so funny. But I hope it was good and that you guys enjoyed the wedding... food, that sounds really good right now.  Dang, too bad about the football team.. but that is crazy that I will be there for the next football season.. that is just to crazy. I can't believe that football season is already over! 

Holy cow, what is McKady doing taking senior pictures, she is too young to be doing that! They look really good! And she is going to be taking more? That is really cool, they look really good, just keep her away from the boys, especially returned missionaries! 

This week has been really good! We have had a great week here in Vera. Last week we spent the whole day moving the stuff from the Hermanas' pension to our pension, it was lots of work and now all the stuff that was in their apartment is now in our apartment.. so we can't even hardly walk in our apartment! So we will have to see, we will have to wait some time before we know what we need to do with all the stuff. So our apartment is dirty.. but there is not much that we can do about it.. 

and then we got to know a new investigator that we picked up from the Hermanas, and he is super awesome! His name is Ramon and he is 19, he has come to church a lot, but he has a problem with smoking. He is getting better because he used to smoke more than 3 packs of cigarettes a day... but now he has anywhere between 1 to 5, so that is what we are focusing on with him.  He came to church and has help and support from a family he pretty much lives with, and they are great with helping him. He grew up in a rough situation.. but he is great and wants to change and wants to serve a mission someday. So that is exciting, and if all goes well we are planning to baptize him on the 21 of November.

Then Wednesday we traveled to Reconquista for our Renuion de Zona, and it was really good but it didn't leave much time for us to work in our area, but we did get some hours in so that was good! The meeting was mainly about the Book of Mormon and how we have the challenge to read it this month, and so far it is going good. We also learned how the Book of Mormon can help us in our lives and in the lives of the people that we teach.

Then we will go to Friday, which was also really good. So we went and taught Ramon at the house of the members, and then they wanted to go and teach his boss, he works for the police, so we went and taught his boss and his boss's wife, they are actually married, which is crazy. But there are some problems there and that is why they wanted us to go and teach them. The member, Valina was bearing her testimony about families and it was just so powerful, the other girl started to cry, it was just a very spiritual moment, so we will see how that goes because they are super awesome! 

So we will go to yesterday, which was also a very great day! So we were walking to a lesson and this guy stops us and he says, "I need help, I need God in my life". So we said, "okay, we will help you". It turns out that is wife left him and he is just a wreck right now, and so we taught him a little about the plan of salvation and told him that we would come back tonight, so we are going to go by and talk to him tonight and see how it goes. But then we had a great lesson with our investigator, he works on a farm and is only here on weekends, but he said he wants to get baptized, but he also smokes a lot.. so we will need to work with him on that.  So anyway, it was just a week full of good things, we had good lessons and I am excited. We have lots of potential and the branch has lots of room to grow. There is so much we could do, but it would be nice if we had, like, our ward because we can't be home teachers, councilors and missionaries, but we are getting our hands on it. So that is the week, it has been good. Well mom, I hope that you have a wonderful week, just want you to know that I love you guys very much, and that I think you guys are the best! Mom, I love you, thanks for your letter. Tell everyone that I love them, and that I have the best family in the world.

love Elder Grover

P.S. A hermana said she sent you a facebook request but you didn't answer... Heranina Morillo is her name, but it might be Familia Morillo, but yeah, love you mom!:)

Argentina - November 2, 2015

Somos los Reyes de Vera!

Hello, mom! :) Su pequenito argentino misionero es muy bien esa semana:) Halloween! It looks like it was a blast! I am glad that you guys enjoyed it! Jade will figure out what he wants to do, but tell him the trials only make him stronger! Ha, and Jordan... wow, that is crazy he is finishing, I thought he was planning on living there and studying there his whole life;) But then McKady will putting in, that is crazy! Ha, well for me, I have been thinking on it hard and long, and I am thinking that yeah, it is going to be a good idea to go to school in January, ha:) But there is always time to think about it, ha. But, I love the pictures, tell everyone that they are great! Mom, what did you dress up as? Ha, but thanks for the amazing pictures. 

This has been a pretty good week! I have enjoyed it.  So last Monday we had a family home evening with some recent converts, and they are great! The mom is the Relief Society president, but the dad is inactive, so we are trying to help him. His main problem is that he likes to smoke and drink, and he dosen't have any friends in church. He got along really well with the missionaries that baptized him, but just like all missionaries, they are like bad girlfriends and they leave. He likes to hunt, so I have talked to him some about that. He is going to shoot a armadillo and cook it up for us, so that will be exciting!

Wow, then there was Tuesday, a little longer day, we will skin that day, well we did travel to another city for our district meeting, which is always nice and relaxing. 

Then the next couple days went really well, we had lots of people we got to know and taught lots of lessons.  Also, a very interesting story, we were prompted to stop and clap at a house, so we stopped. As we were talking to her, I told her that we pray and ask guidance from God to know where to go and who to talk to, and so why did she think God sent us to her house. She got  a sad look on her face and said that her mom has cancer and is not doing very good, also, her nice had just been in a bad accident.  So we taught her about the plan of salvation, it was really good.  She also said that a year and a half ago when her dad died, the missionaries showed up at her house. It just goes to show me how much God loves each one of us, and how aware he is of what is going on in our lives. 

We were able to find lots of people, but most only have one lesson, but things are going great with that. We are talking to this family, well we had a lesson and talked to a girl, then we passed by and talked to her brother, then we passed by again and talked to her mom, and then we passed by again and talked to her sister, so we hope that one day we will be able to talk to the family! Then we had a lesson and talked to Claudia, and she liked it so much she invited her sisters and mom to the next one. Oh, and then there is Victor who is married to a member, but he is great and has talked to the missionaries a lot, but we just started reading the Book of Mormon with him, so we will see how that goes. 

And the crazy news, so the sisters that were here in Vera, their contract to the pension ran out so Presidente just closed their area and they went somewhere else. So now we have the whole city of Vera, and that is why we are the Kings of Vera, it is going to be fun! But also rally hard because our area just doubled in size, but I am looking forward to the challenge.

That is mainly the week in a nut shell, but oh, as a mission we have the challenge to read the Book of Mormon in the month of November, so we will see how that goes.

We didn't really have a Halloween party here, but oh wells next year I will maybe dress up or something, but other than that things are going great and life keeps kicking on! 

Thanks so much for all the love and the support and the prayers. I hope that everyone is doing great. Mom, I love you, best mom ever in the world, and I have the best family in the world. Thanks for all and have a wonderful week!

love Elder Grover

Argentina - October 26, 2015

Happy Halloween!

 

i am doing great this week, how is everyone doing this week!!? no, mom I didn't get transferred, I am still in the same area, and I am still training the missionary:) But, I am doing great and I am healthy.  This week was good, I bought some carrots to sanck on, it is really crazy how eating healthier can bring more energy and excitement. I hope you are all just doing great!:) Time is going so fast!! It is so crazy! I cannot believe how fast time goes, so crazy that I only have 10 more months. Oh yeah, it is Halloween this coming Saturday.. so crazy! I wish they would celebrate it a little more here. Tell Jade Happy Birthday for me! What is crazy is that his last birthday we were both in the mission, that just seems so crazy to me! Sounds like there are always things that need to get done. It still shoks me that Amanda is getting married, we are not old enough to get married... so weird, ha. Thanksgiving is comig up too, wow, that will be super fun to have everyone come and be together.  People are shooting animals? And I am not getting any pictures of these animals? Que in el mundo!;) I wouldn't worry about JJ and Jesse too much, they have their wives to help them get through school, which would help a lot, ha. Yeah, I know that Jade and Jordan cause lots of stress... I am sorry about that mom, ha;) No mom, I am doing good, there is no need to worry about me. I just have the frustration of dealing with people who don't want to hear the gospel, or don't want to come church or who like to avoid it, but no, it is going good. I wil expound more on that here in a little bit.

But other than that, I hope everyone is just doing great and that all the kids are excited for Halloween. I hope I get some good pictures of the excitment next week!:) 

My week had some excitment and then lots of the usual same missionary things, which is very interesting, but I am always trying to look for the good things that we have in life to experience. This week we were able to find lots of other people to teach, well, we found people and taught them the first lesson, but then finding those poeple again a second time is proving to be very difficult. So we have, or had, 2 investagators that were progressing, but we were not able to talk to them this week. One of them, her kids are just a little crazy, they shot me with a sling shot, ha, and the other week they spit on my companion. But we were not able to talk with them again, and that was frustrating. But we were able to talk to a lady that we started teaching, and her name is Kendy, she is really cool.  She has blond hair and blue eyes, and so do her kids, it is crazy, and she speaks Spanish, but we will see how it goes. She said she wanted to read the Book of Mormon, but we have a lesson with her tonight so we will see how that goes. 

My companion, he is great, and he is learning a lot, I get along with him really well. Oh yeah, so his mom wants you to become fiends with the Argentina Resistencia mission on facebook so that she can find you and become friends with you, ha. But training is difficult in the sense that, as a missionary, while teaching you and your companion like to teach 50-50, but when you are training, you have to do a little more talking. It is also very intersting to use the experiences that I have had on my mission to help in learning Spanish and just getting to missionary life. 

So last night there were elections for the Presidente of Agentina, so we went to church and then we stayed in the pension all day, it was super boring. But this is what happened, so I was cooking pudding, and when I went to put it in the fridge, it fell... and it was really hot... but it is all good, just hurt for a little bit. I am not burned, I was mostly just frustraed that it dropped because then I didn't even get to eat it. And the cake I made got burnt because I was trying to clean up the mess... but it was fun, well it is funny now! ha:) I think I will stick with cooking in America, it is just a little easier.

So this morning I was studying in 1 Nephi 21, and it is when Isaiah is talking and he talks about how a mother won't forget her children, and that Christ will never forget us. Anyway, thanks mom for your love and worry for me:) I love you. And I want you to know that our Savior loves us very much, and He is always there for us and wants the best for us, that we can do the best. 

I also have done a lot of thinking on how sound the gospel is, it just makes sense, I love it! I love studying and loving to see how simple it is, but yet at the same time how complicated it is. Then, another quick thought, people here are just the opposite of Joseph Smith because they believe that all the churches are true because they are following Chirst. Like, there are so many different churches here, but unlike Joseph they don't worry about which one is the true church, they just think that they are all good because they teach of Christ. Anyway, it is just frustrating.

The church is true, I want to testify of that! This is the Lord's work and it is here to help us. Mom, I love you more than you will ever know. I hope that all is great with you and the family and hope everyone has a wonderful Halloween! All my love forever! 

Elder Grover

Argentina - October 20, 2015

Week 1 in Vera

 

Hey mom! :) Things are great here in Argentina.  Well, emergency transfers happen a lot, and to secure your mind, our president said that 99 percent of the time they are for other reasons than not being good, but I'm being honest, that they moved me because a missionary got sick, and I am training, so yeah, ha, don't think I am bad, okay:) Of course I am teaching him to be a good missionary, to work hard and to enjoy the bad just as much as the good, and to enjoy every minute!:) Now you can get any thought of me being a bad missionary out of your head! Ha, no worries and look at the good :) Sometimes we quote 8 Seconds and John Wayne movies, ha, and I am sure I would beat him in a wrestling match, if we could wrestle, ha! Speaking of which, I am 160 right now... I need to lift weights, but we don't have any. But don't worry, we are healthy and have some great members who feed us well!

That is too bad that the team didn't make state, but it is cool that McKady did so good.  And that is all that matters, doing the best that we can do, sometimes things don't turn out as we hoped, but if we do our best, nothing else matters!

They both got deer? No, they didn't tell me, and I didn't get any pictures! That is awesome that they both got one though, where they big? That is so cool! Tell JJ and Tamra to shoot some big deer and then send me some pictures! Jade is  tough kid, he will be just fine! But I can't blame him for struggling with the city, it is just a little better in small towns, I am not a big city person either, ha!

So, a little about last week, Tuesday we traveled about one and half hours to get to where we were supposed to go. Then when we got back we had a meeting for the branch presidency, that was good. So we are working with 2 investigators, and one has a husband in jail and can't come to church, or won't come because it just so happens that visiting hours are the same time as church.  Anyway, the other one has a husband who cut his foot with chainsaw so she has to take care of him, and can't come to church. But we have found people who could progress, and so the work could go good! Then Friday we had an activity in the church for Mother's Day! Happy Mother's Day from Argentina, mom! I love you! Anyway, the activity was really good, and then in the morning we did service for  member and a friend of his, it was really good! Then Sunday was crazy! The branch president was not there, so it was just me and my companion.  So I conducted the meeting and then gave a 30 min. talk, I hope it was good. But then it gets better, all the members left after the second class, so it was just us 4 missionaries, and the hermanas couldn't be with us so they went to their apartment to have relief society, and we had priesthood...very interesting. But then yesterday was transfers so we worked, and P-day is today! But I a m doing good and I am nice and happy here in Vera. I hope everyone is doing great, and that this week goes super well for everyone.  Mom, I love you so much and am very grateful for your emails every week, they are great! I want you guys to know that I know the Lord loves us and that He is with us, but we need to put in our part to get to know Him and how He talks to us.  Thanks for all the love and support, hope all goes well! 

Love Elder Grover

Argentina - October 12, 2015

Emergency Transfer! Whoo Ha!

 

Hey mom, how do you like my title? Yeah, it turns out that I am a bad missionary..... yeah, sorry about that............... just kidding:) I don't know, but really I will explain why in a little bit!! But I am happy and it is good, don't worry, I will explain it in a little bit.

This week there has been a lot of rain, but now that I am more south, it is a lot cooler than like Fermosa, where I started my mission last year. School and papers? I think I will just stay in the mission, the Lord doesn't judge or grade my studies, it is just a little more simple;) Mom, I bet you gave a wonderful talk, but I am so excited that his baptism was great! 

You are finishing the Book of Mormon? That is awesome, but it is kind of sad too, I have to agree! You are ponderizing that one? that is awesome! I did D&C 10:5, it is talking about prayer! I really like it and it can help us. Well, I will have to pick another one for this week because that was for last week. The football team lost? Dang, I hope that they can finish it all good!

So, I got transferred, but we will get to that in a little bit. So this last week was pretty good! We had a lot of first lessons with people, and were finding lots of people to teach.  One is a granddaughter of a member, a lady that is 97 years old! Crazy, and she still walks and does everything, she even cooked for us. 

Okay, so I don't have much time so I will make this fast! On Saturday president called me to his office and told me that I was going to be transferred because  another  missionary was sick, well he had this skin infection and he wanted him in Resistencia with good, reliable medical care. So I went to his area and with his companion, who is new and only has 5 weeks in the mission, so I am training again, I am excited! So it wasn't bad or anything, someone just got sick, so I am here in Vera, Santa Fe!:) and my companion is Elder Isaacson, he is from Arizona. And guess what high school he went to? St. Johns, and he wrestled 195! Crazy right? and he is a cowboy, so it has been super fun, I am super excited. I guess I am also the 1st counselor to the Branch President here, so we will see how that goes! I am excited, and the work will keep going. But with the time and everything I've got to go, but I will update you guys more about it next week.  Just know that I love you guys so much! Have a wonderful week! Mom, I love you more than you will ever know! Have a wonderful week!:)

Love Elder Grover

Argentina - October 5, 2015

What a spiritual weekend!

First off, Conference was amazing!!! I loved it so much!! I could listen to it all day every day. But we do have the opportunity to study the talks in the next 6 months and apply them more in our lives, or even watch them whenever we want, what a great blessing! You compare it to the Book of Mormon, it is very true, very well put, but now we have to apply the things that we have learned so that we will be able to live with our Father in Heaven again. That is one way we can have the spirit of conference more in our life all the time. I loved Elder Bednar's talk, he just put the icing on the cake, he speaks so well, it is just so amazing! But I will talk about conference a little more in detail here in a little bit!

That is awesome about Stetson getting baptized, tell him how much I love him and how proud I am of him for making the decision that he is making! That is so amazing! Jading is working at Little Caesars? That is so awesome! That would be crazy if he found someone to marry right away because, well, it would be crazy! You will have to take some pictures when you go up there and send them to me!!! That would be super awesome!

We will go though the week, it was pretty good! Tuesday was pretty normal, Wednesday I went on divisions with the zone leaders and that was really great, we taught some great lessons and then in the morning we did some service, which went really well also.  But it was funny, so we were helping this less-active member paint her table, but it was super funny because we were using spray paint, but she handed us the bug spray instead of the spray paint. So she was like, "okay, paint it", and me and my zone leader were so confused.  So he started to spray it with bug spray, just confused, and she went in and got another can, but it was spray paint. We were like, "Hermana, this is bug spray, it is not going to paint." And she was like, "oh!" ha, it was so funny.  So that was Thursday in the morning, but in the meanwhile my companion was sick, so when I got back to my area, my companion was sick so I was able to clean our whole apartment really nice! So I guess that was good. And then Friday we had an activity with another ward to watch Meet the Mormons, but not very many people came, not even members. It would be nice if we had more support from the members, that would be great! So anyway, we watched Meet the Mormons, and it was good, and then the next day was conference!!! And that was super, super amazing!

To pick a favorite talk is too hard, like I said, I loved them all! All of them had things that I could apply and learn. Elder Bednar's was amazing, also Elder Holland's was very, very powerful! I enjoyed it very much, talking on the importance of mothers and the love that they have for their children, thanks for being my mother, mom!:) And for all the love and support that you give me! All the talks were great, Elder Neilson's was so amazing, well, all the apostle's talks where just so amazing! They were great! And the new apostles were great, then Haynie, I believe he is in the Quorum of the 70 when he told the story of the mud, I loved that talk! Oh yeah, and to ponderize one scripture every week, that is something I am going to try doing, and I think that it will help us to have the spirit more with us! I just loved it all, the old ship zion has all we need! So we have no reason to fear. Oh, and then there was another one that was talking about the barriors, can't remember the name, but that was amazing too, because we can't see, but the Lord knows what is the best! Then I loved how they talked about the atonement of Jesus Christ! What an amazing thing we have to become clean to be lifted up in our trials and all that we need will be given to us, through the atonement! I believe that, I also believe this world is a very cruel place, but that means we must be better, we have got to work harder to defeat the wicked that we face.  I testify that the Lord is our Savior, and through him we can be clean. I know that He loves us and wants the best for us! I hope that everyone had a good week, and that we can all apply conference into our lives more! I love you, hope that the baptism for Stetson goes well! I love you all and hope the best for everyone! Mom, I love you and think you are the best! Have fun and things will be fun, love you!

Love Elder Grover!

Argentina - September 28, 2015

Conference week!

Did you like the whole spiderman thing? Well, the webs are not coming out, so I've still got to work on that, but don't worry mom, I was very careful and went to the doctor and got things taken care of and now it is all gone, don't worry!:)

That is great that you guys survived homecoming week! Crazy to think that it was 2 years ago when I had homecoming week! I hoped that everyone enjoyed it and disfruted the time!:) That is weird, I just put a Spanish verb with the English ending on it.. oh well, ha.

Hunting! That is awesome, I hope that they have success in their hunting, and that all goes well. If they get anything, they better send me a picture!!! Tell JD happy birthday for me. They eat pasta here, something like spaghetti, not like you make it, but close, don't worry I will show you when I get home, all my secrets that I have developed in the art of cooking:) Some missionaries are horrible cooks, but me on the other hand, I'm pretty good.  I found my downfall, dulce de leche, it is so, so good, I good live on it! Lately, the food we have been getting from members has been like pork, like these roast things, it has been pretty good but definitely not American food. And coke, wow, I am addicted!  There are like 5 flavors of pop here coke, apple, orange, and lime. Yeah, time is going fast, in October I will almost have a year in Argentina, and that is weird! Yeah, I don't know if the mom was like that last night, we saw it last night and it just looked really big, but that was like at 8. You guys just need to find something you guys can do together, that would be fun, idk like make a quilt or read the Book of Mormon together, or maybe you guys could cook things or bake things, just because you can:) New things you have never made or things you want to try, or teach her how to sew or scrapbook or knit or anything, there are lots of things that you can try. When we are busy we are less likely to worry, and that way you guys can make a friendship that will last an eternity! 

I have a quote for you from Boyd K. Packer, "a veces, mientras crecía, pensaba que éramos pobres," escribió en una historia breve de su vida " luego me di cuenta de que no ere cierto; simplemente no teníamos dinero. siempre fuimos ricos en las cosas más importantes de la vida". 

Okay, now I will translate it for you, "at times, while I was growing up, I thought that we were poor" he wrote in a brief history of his life, "later I realized that it wasn't true, simply we never had money, but we were always rich in the important things in life".
Okay mom, when I read this it made me think of you and our life, at times maybe we didn't have a lot of money, but mom I promise that we were always rich in other things. I don't why, but I felt strongly that I should share that with you.  Mom, looking back I felt like I was very blessed in the things that are important, thank you for giving me the blessings that are the most important in this life! I did not have a problem with the way I was raised, and money doesn't matter, only the gospel and our testimonies matter.   

The John Tanner Story is a great example, and also the story of Alma, he was the chief judge, making money with that, but gave it up to serve a mission. And there are more stories just like that, so the things of the world don't really matter. What I have found in this life is that the things of the Gospel are much more important, keeping the commandments and having a family and following Christ!

This week I finished the book of mormon in Spanish, this what I started after I got here, in my studies I study one chapter a day, I really study it.  Then I started to just read it, and it is weird because now I can understand the first of it in Spanish, the last time I didn't understand it at all when I started the mission, the gift of tongues is real! :) So with some of our investigators, we have had people with very interesting doubts, mainly with the bible, so I have been learning more about the bible and how to use it. 

So this week should be good, us and another ward are going to be watching Meet the Mormons, so I hope that goes well also. General Conference!!!!! I am so excited!!! It should be super great! So I want to invite everyone to watch every session and really take in the words that they will be saying, and the importance of it. And we are going to see 3 new apostles... wow, crazy! It is going to be super crazy!!! Mom, I want you to write me and tell me what you learned and what you would like to apply.  But mom, I love you and hope you have a wonderful week! I know this church is true and I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and that a person can really get closer to God when they read it and follow its teachings!

Love Elder Grover

PS I bought a pull up bar.. we will se how that goes!:)

Argentina - September 15, 2015

Jesus is the Christ

Hey mom:), 

My week was just great, how was your week? The weather? Yeah, it is so hot, and I guess spring just started a couple days ago... so it might get super hot.... hotter than usual, but as long as I get used to it we are good. But the sound of 2 winters in a row does not sound too bad right now! One thing I don't like about winter is it that it gets dark fast, I like it more bright, it makes me more happy. I have found out that the weather does have an affect on your mood, but that is also why we have the light of Christ, so we need to put our trust in Him more and He will help us. San Juan Football, runs in the blood, it is good to hear that they won, it must be in the blood, I feel just a little sad every Friday night. But BYU won, that is crazy!! And awesome, so are they ranked now? I hope they do really well this year!!! Well transfers, yeah, well it happens a lot, but this is a first time for me.  I do miss my area, well old area, but I will will go where the Lord wants me to go, or needs me, so I am content:) 

But this area is way different, we ate at this sister's house, and boy did they have money, well, a lot of people in our area do. Just to tell you, they don't sell Apple products here in Argentina so you have to go to another country to get an IPhone, but this family had 6!  The sister is 73 and her mom and grandma where the first converts in Rosario.  She has been inactive for 40 years, but just recently got reactivated. We ate in an apartment complex on the 8th floor, it was so cool. Also, it is on the other side of the street from the church, so that was cool.  They had a interesting story too, a couple with their daughter, the family Herrara, are here because the company that the guy works for has him here for something. Anyway, during like Christmas they weren't active in the church, they are from Buenas Aires. Anyway, the missionaries were just leaving the church and the family was in the park in front of the church, the missionies felt the need to talk to them. They found out that they were members, well less active members, so the missionaries helped them and since then they have been active and went and got sealed in the temple, that is pretty cool:) The ward treats us very good:) But the birthday was great and the package was awesome, and yeah.

Venessa and Ellis, they are a couple that we are teaching and they area awesome, other than that they might move into another area, but they are great. They are not married, so they need to get married. Ellis has this metal thing in his leg that is like, sticking out, because he got in a crash 3 years ago and it still had not healed, but they are great.  Venessa is amazing, she reads and prays and wants to get baptized so bad.  She loves what we teach, she asks us to go over it twice so she can write it down so that she can explain to other people too, so amazing.  We explained the law of chastitiy and she loved it and was so excited to be able to teach it to her son when he grows up so he grows up to be a good kid.  Ellis has some doubts that we are working with, mainly about the bible and things.

Sandra, she is an old investagator that has been taught on and off for the last 3 years, loves to listen and knows it is true, but has some doubts about Joseph Smith being a prophet. But she is great, I am excited to see how it goes. 

Susana, she is a lady that is in a wheelchair, so it is hard to have her come to church. She would have been baptized with the other elders, but her sons don't want us talking to her . . .but that was with the other elders, and we are here now!:)

Gracela, she has been taught a lot, but we have only talked to her once and it was more of an argument, well, she doesn't like to listen, she knows the bible really well, but she thinks that Jesus was the only one that held the Mel priesthood, we will see.

The reason I put the title that I did is because I have been reading a lot in Jesus the Christ, and it is amazing, I am getting close to finishing it:) But it is amazing, and I know that my testimony of Him has grown so much while I have been reading it. I know He is the Savior of the world and that He gave His life for us so that we can be healed through Him.

And tomorrow I will read Ether 12, I am excited.  But I want you guys to know that this is the true church! And invite everyone to read the Book of Mormon every day.  I hope that you guys have a good week and all goes well! :) Mom, I love you so much and thanks for all you do:)

Love Elder Grover

P.S. I got a letter from dad, he said that Rocky died:( has anything else happened like that? But all dogs go to heaven, I know that from the movie! But I love you guys:)

Argentina - September 8, 2015

Hola de Resistencia!

This week has been super interesting!!! But don't worry, I will get there later on in the letter!:) I am sorry it was hard, but look at the bright side, I have already had 2 birthdays in the mission! That means that I will be home for the next one! Crazy to think about right? It was a good day, I got cake and olucj from members, as well as lamb, beef and chicken, it was really good. And then the other elders that I live with made me a cake too, it was great. Oh, and I forgot to tell you last week - I got the package:) 2 weeks ago. Sorry, I opened it early, I was pressured by other elders to open it.. but thanks so much!! The ties are so awesome, I loved them! And well, jerky is one of my favorite things, and the pictures are so amazing, thanks so much!!!!!:) It kind of made me a little sad that I was not with you guys on those trips, but that is ok. Thanks for the pictures of the wedding, they were great, everyone looked great!

How was your anniversary? I hope it was great:) because I have the best parents in the whole wide world!!! That's you guys!! Oh yeah! 

How was the Labor Day fun? What did you guys do on the mountain? I hope it was all as fun as it could be, because you guys are the best, so I hope it was the best! What mountain did you go to?

Santa vaca!!! ( holy cow) Amanda and Kendall are getting married?! That was a surprise, wow, so weird, I can't believe it! But you've got to admit it is kind of funny that they have all married red heads with very similar personalities, so crazy, ha ha! Well, I hope they will be happy and all of that good stuff:)

The BYU game sounded awesome, and it is because he had number 12 that he did so good! That is awesome, that is good to hear that they are playing good, I hope they continue in their success! And that does go to show you what the power of the mission can do to help someone, God will always bless us, if we come unto him he will help us! That is too bad that our team is not doing so good... makes me kind of sad, but they will learn and maybe it will help them to become better! Jesse has direct TV? Yeah, I don't imagine you will be seeing much of him with football going on. It does sound like his mother-in-law likes him a lot.  But that is great that all is good with them and everything! Crazy to hear about all that is going on and things that have happened.

Okay, so Tuesday was a good day, then it was my birthday:) ate lunch with the family Drago, then went to the family Carlson and had some cake that night. Then the next day we went and ate at the family Soveron's house, and they thought it was my birthday that day, so I never told them it wasn't. But it was good, and they made a nice cake, and I think someone in the family asked for your facebook, but that's good. Then the week went normal, just bringing people unto the Lord! Which is always great also.  But I got transferred, so right now I am in Resistencia, the heartland of the mission and in the heartland of resistencia, in the 1st ward. And all, well most of my area is central, like rich people and big houses, like, it is so wierd to be here, but I am excited. My companion is from Brasil, Elder Da Silva, and we are in a ward, so we have a bishop and a ward mission leader who is active! But he is awesome, so I am excited; there are lots of members here, so that will be good because the best way to work is to use the members. So anyway, that is me right now, here in Resistencia.  The house of President Franco is in my area and the stake center with the office of the mission is also in my area, so I should be able to get things faster too, that is awesome. But the other elders left a very dirty pension...... some missionaries are not very clean sometimes.  Oh, and we are white washing the area too, so we are both new and very lost, but it is so much fun. We already talked to some really cool people, I am super excited to see how it goes and get to know some new people.

So I have just reciently finished reading the book of Mormon, well the book of Mormon in the Book of Mormon, it was amazing!  There were some very wonderful guys that have helped in the coming of the Book of Mormon, I imagine they suffered a lot but they were lghts on a candle that could not be put out.  They were the only believers out of everyone, and never faulted, only prayed more for their brethern who were not members.  Now I am in Ether, and tomorrow I will read the part where the Brother of Jared sees Jesus, I am so excited.  Also, this morning I studied about the restoration of the Church of Jesus Cristo de Ultimos Dias, pero, it is the message I share every day and I was amazed how much I learned, just by reading it again. What an amazing thing we have, I hope that we can find people to share it with because it really is amazing.

Every day I am more and more convinced that this is the true church, i have no doubts, it all makes sense, and well, I know because I feel it too, the Book of Mormon is the word of God! I know that Christ suffered for our sins and He will help us if we ask him.  I am so greatful for the family I have who have helped me to be where I am at! One thing I love about the gospel is that it teaches people  to be good people and to help others, it is just so amazing. As missionaries we are sharing the gospel, and it is sad to see people reject us because we are walking around handing out something better money, or anything in the world.  If we went to people's houses and handed out pesos they would be si o si accept us, but we don't, we have something better, don't let the things of the world blind us from the most important things. I want you guys to know I love you and feel so blessed to have you as a family.  I hope that you guys have a wonderful week! Mom, I love you so much:) never orget that! Have a wonderful week:)
Elder Grover