If you only knew....

OK!!! First, I am sorry, but I forgot my camera so I can't send any pictures....

But!

I LOVE IT HERE. Sister A** and I are literally the same person. Like, it's scary how similar we are. We even have the same toothpaste. We laugh constantly and are having so much fun working together. She is from Ammon, Idaho and has been on her mission 11 months. She and I value the same things and we have the same goals in what we want to accomplish here, and also the same idea of how to accomplish those goals. I love her.

THE WARD (Walnut Canyon Ward). So I thought our ward was celestial....This ward is doing our job, we feel like. Everyone we have met so far is incredible. They are always trying to help others and they are always giving us people to go see. They are very missionary-minded. We met our new bishop, Bishop Hodges (he is 34. Most of the ward is early 30s) and he is amazing. He told us it was the ward's job to find people for us to teach and we should not have to do all of the work. He has so many great ideas of building this new ward [boundaries were changed about two weeks ago] and we are excited to help him accomplish those goals.  Sister A** and I are just amazed with our new ward already and can't wait to get to know, love, and serve them more.

Sister A** and I have been working hard. Everyone we find who is interested we end up referring them to the correct missionaries. We have decided that the people we are supposed to teach will come from the ward.

I really am so excited to be here in this new area. I love it so much. I can't wait to tell you all about it!

I hope you all have a great week!!

xoxo, 

Sister G

Transfer News

Any guesses??

Sister C** and I are white washing out of Paso Robles. We are blue washing which means Elders are taking our place. Sister C** and I feel good about this because there are a few people we feel would really benefit from having Elders.

I am going to Moorpark. My companion is Sister A** (who was in my zone and is adorable!) and we will be going into a brand new ward. I'm excited! Sister C** is going to Westlake (we will be in the same zone) to be in the YSA ward! I am so excited for her, she will kill it there!

Paso had definitely been the perfect fit for my first area. I have learned so much and have come to love so many here. We spent yesterday saying goodbye to people and today we will say goodbye to more. A couple in our ward, the R**s, are taking us out to lunch today to say goodbye and they invited everyone who wants to come as well. From what we have heard there will be a lot of people there. These people are truly amazing and it's weird to think that I am leaving them:(  I have learned so much from them and they have really taken care of me here. 

This past week we had a great lesson with A**. We felt like we just needed to start over with the lessons so we taught him the Restoration. We taught it with the cups (it's hard to explain over email, but you use cups to teach it). Sister C and I feel like A** was starting to fully understand. There were many points that he said he actually got, so that's good. He has never been taught by Elders and we feel like that might be just what A** needs to get over the wall. We are praying for him!

This last transfer we had the opportunity to visit B** M** every week and read with her. She is old and her body won't let her come to church. She is the sweetest thing, with her blush making her white hair pink:) Her smile lights up her face and she has such a strong testimony of the gospel. She was so sad when we told her we were leaving and we all almost started crying. Sister C and I have loved seeing her every week and brightening up her day and giving her some peace she has been looking for. I think she was the one who was actually teaching and blessing us! It's hard to tell you just how amazing she is over email, but take my word for it!

There are just so many people I could talk about it's not even funny! [Long list of people..], the young women, pretty much EVERYONE haha!

There are a couple pictures of potential investigators- K** and R** and his wife. We have taught K** a few times and he is like half an investigator. He is stellar and asks awesome questions and really wants to know. We have been working on bringing him back to the simple stuff , as he wants to know all the answers to the deep questions. Stuff we learn about as we learn more in the church, if that makes sense? R** and his wife are great, too! They actually had us over for dinner on Thursday as a going away thing. And he came to church yesterday!! He said he would come to anything we invited him to. But this time he came because I beat him in a game of ping pong :):)   

I hope you all have a great week this week!! Thank you for all the support and prayers! 

xoxo, 

Sister G

 

 

Zone Conference

Hey!

Happy Birthday to Grandma Groneman this week!

Happy late Anniversary Mom and Dad!

I don't really know what to say because we talked yesterday (which by the way was great! It was so fun to hear all of you). So this email is going to be really short.

This past Tuesday was Zone Conference. We did a hike for a change. President and Sister Felix had mini lessons on the trail so it was fun. We were talking about the Holy Ghost and its role in our work. We learned a lot.

Oh!! President made an exciting announcement at Zone Conference as well. Missionaries can now go with their recent converts to the temple to do baptisms for the dead!! Sister C** and I are so excited because that means we get to go THIS SATURDAY with O**! Our ward is doing a ward temple day for adults and they reserved the font for the adults who haven't gone through the temple so they could participate as well! O** is going and we are so excited!

Other than that it was a pretty regular week. Work work work. Last Monday we did go to Hearst Castle (It's definitely a must). 

I hope you all have a great week this week! Don't do anything stupid;) 

xoxo, 

Sister Groneman

 

Hearst Castle

Mother's Day call home

Thank you for the quote! I loved it! I actually used it for my planner for this upcoming transfer!

 

Zone Conference

From the California Ventura Mission blog, written by Sister Felix:

We were able to do our activity on the Childs' property.  Here is a picture of both zones, SLO and SM.

San Luis Obispo Zone 

We had a prayer at the stake center and then car pooled to the Childs'.  We started singing Let the Holy Spirit Guide.

Everyone was given a bandana.  Our CVM Target is Ignite the Fire Within so when we saw these bandanas we were excited to get them.

 One of the missionaries in the companionship was blindfolded.  The "seeing" companion could not touch their companion but would give directions for walking on the trail. We don't always know where to go or how to do things but the Spirit will direct us.  We have to listen.

After we all crossed the stream, Sister Felix shared "President, I have a frog." (The story will be posted on one of the other zone activities).

We drove back to the Santa Maria Stake Center to eat lunch and have a fruit bar outside.

This is a finding activity where cards were handed out with a description of an identity of who they were on top and they were looking for the identity of the description of a person at the bottom of the card.  After finding and doing how to begin teaching they taught a gospel principle.

We convened in the Relief Society room for training on working with members and social media, more on the Holy Ghost, and a summary of Ignite the Fire Within.

You know you're a Missionary When...

You know you're a missionary when:

You still do service in over 100 degree weather...

You don't schedule lunch or dinner because you have too much going on (including interviews with President)

No bathroom breaks...gotta hold it

You get to meet an Apostle of the Lord

You whip together an Enrichment Night in under an hour out of thin air

You cry because you are so happy all the time

And then you cry because you are so tired

And then you cry when your investigators get baptized

To sum it up...You cry a lot

Wait, let me pull myself together. Hey!! Maybe I should actually explain myself!

This week was INSANE. There was so much to do and no time time to do it. So of course we did it all, but not without help and making more time. 

J**'s baptism was on Wednesday! It was sooooo good! So many from the ward came to support him. The talks were amazing, and Sister C** always sings so well!! The spirit was so strong. J** looked so happy! It was such a cool experience. I can't wait to hear when he and B** get to go through the temple next year and be sealed for time and all eternity:)

Flash forward to Saturday- The craziest day this week. We woke up at 3:30am (I thought I was in high school again) and drove all the way to Camarillo to hear...wait for it...Elder Christofferson! It was such a special experience. He talked about the Doctrine of Christ and how if there was no law there would be no God. If there was no law there would be no sin, but there would also be no righteousness. It was very interesting. My favorite part of the whole thing was when the whole mission sang our mission song (Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise) and when E Christofferson was bearing his testimony of the Savior. It was so powerful. These men are truly called of God and testify that the Savior lives. They are doing what the Disciples did during the Savior's time. I loved it.

After seeing him, we had to drive ALL the way back to Paso to get ready for O**'s baptism! Although we were running on no sleep, we had the energy needed to get everything prepared. O**'s baptism was also amazing. We had a ton of Elders from our zone, as well as ward members come to support, which was amazing. O** looked so happy. He has changed so much and has such a strong testimony of Jesus Christ.  

J** and O** both were confirmed yesterday. They were both beaming and the Spirit was so strong in the chapel yesterday. Sister C** and I are so incredibly happy for them and the steps they have made to be closer to the Savior. There truly are no words to explain it.

We were able to watch the world-wide devotional last night. I SAW PARKER [her brother, who sings with the Salt Lake Institute Choir]! It was so cool to see him. It made me feel connected to home even as I am out here. The devotional was very good as well.

Well, as you might guess from this letter that might not make sense (if it does, I'll be surprised haha) we are still a little tired. But it's such a good tired. I wouldn't want to be doing anything else and there is still so much to do. The field is white and ready to harvest. Sister C** and I are ready to work hard this week! Are you willing to put in time?

 

I love the talk Elder Cook gave in General Conference. "Foundations of Faith". It's one everybody should read!!

I hope you all have a great week this week and are seeking ways you can uplift those around you!

xoxo.

Sister G

...sometimes you need a laugh...from a dancing pickle

 

Elder Christofferson, Sister & President Felix, Elder Ren Johnson (area authority)

 

The upcoming week will be CRAZY

Hey!!

THANK YOU for all your prayers!

Last Monday for our activity my district went to the ocean and saw Elephant Seals! It was so fun! Probably the best P-day activity yet! Sister Felix describes them perfectly-Big Balls of Blubber. It was so fun to see all the green hills, the ocean, and the seals!

Both O** and J** had successful baptism interviews last week! So....we have TWO baptisms this week. J** is getting baptized on Wednesday and O** is getting baptized on Saturday! They are both really excited! We are so excited for them as well. It's been cool to watch the changes that have occurred as they have been learning. I think for me, the coolest thing has been to see, especially with O**, that I had nothing to do with their conversion. It has totally been the Spirit and I have just been the instrument used. Amazing.

Elder Christofferson is coming on Saturday! It will be the last time the whole mission is together before President and Sister Felix go home. :(  We are excited to be all together. But get this- The conference will be in Camarillo....over 3 hours away from Paso...and we have to be in our seats BEFORE 9:00am. Yep, we have to leave before 6 to get there! And then we have to come straight back for O**'s baptism! 

Stake Conference was this past weekend. It was really good. President and Sister Felix actually spoke Saturday and Sunday. A lot of the talks were on conversion and being missionaries day to day.  I have two thoughts I really liked. 1- It is not repentance without the Savior. Isn't that so true? 2- You won't get out of being a missionary, even after you die...So you might as well start now and get good at it! (From Elder Ballard). Again, so true! Missionary work is what we will be doing in the Spirit World so we might as well practice now!

I hope you all have a great week this week! Please remember the whole reason for this life--to prepare and to become more like our Father in Heaven. Remembering the end goal can help us work through everything. Know that all things are for our benefit and as we turn to the Lord everyday in Prayer and rely on the Savior and The Atonement, we will be strengthened and our understanding of the love they have for us will grow.

xoxo, 

Sister G​​