A Busy Week!

Hey!

This week was way busy, but incredible. So many great experiences.

We have two new investigators! Well, 1 1/2.  Our first investigator, L**, is great! We've had two great lessons with him and he is progressing so well. We invited him to be baptized and he said yes. We did not set a date though because he is 20 yrs old. Yes, we are passing him off to the YSA sisters. He is going out of town this week so we have to wait until he gets back though so we are claiming him still! He has been reading the Book of Mormon and was excited to read it on the plane haha! 

Remember J**? So we taught her twice this week! She is adorable! Our first lesson with her will be something I always remember. We taught her about Heavenly Father and prayer. I wish you were there to see what I saw. Her face completely changed and she lit up when we told her that Heavenly Father knew her. She couldn't believe that He knew her and she was so happy, she thought that was the best thing ever. She is so excited to do everything we ask her to and she told us yesterday that she knew that what we were telling her was true. She is always telling us about how good and warm she feels inside :) (We explained what those feelings were, too).  I just have no words to describe what it's like teaching her. It's so amazing to watch her understand and learn.

We had an experience with her dad yesterday as well. He came out after the lesson and talked to us. He told us that he liked us teaching J**, but she was going into a Catholic school in the fall. He told us he was Catholic (but he doesn't really practice it and fully believe it) and that that's how he grew up and that's why J** is going to that school.  In the beginning he told us he didn't have time to learn about different religions and that he was so busy, but the Spirit was totally working in him. In the end, he accepted our Book of Mormon and said if he had time, he would look at it. He likes the Bible, but doesn't like how it is interpreted so many different ways. We are excited for him to read the Book of Mormon:). We were able to testify and teach a little bit as well. You could see him change, as well. When we left, he said he would love to talk to us again about what we believe. We can't wait to go back and talk with him. It would be amazing to be able to teach him and J**!

We went to the temple on Thursday! That was sooooooooooo cool! The LA Temple is gorgeous! It is beautiful inside. We had so much fun with Sister S**, as well! It took us two hours to get into LA so we had a lot of time to laugh and talk! She's great! She showed us the sealing room that she was sealed in, which was special. 

Friday was our last Zone Conference with President and Sister Felix. It was sad, but good. We talked about our feelings on our Book of Mormon challenge (reading it and marking the attributes of Christ). We also talked about the document  "The Living Christ". It's so good! It was incredible. The Spirit was so strong, especially when they were bearing their testimonies at the end. They are amazing and I wish I had more time with them. I'm thankful for the time I did have, though, and will see them when I get home! I am excited to meet President and Sister Nakken. They are in the MTC. They entered on Saturday and get to the mission on Thursday this week. 

This past week was amazing and I can't wait to see what lies ahead. I hope you all are doing well and have a great week this week. 

"You need not wonder nor doubt when you trust the Savior"

xoxo, 

Sister Groneman

 

Clean Car Award

Thousand Oaks Zone

Ice cream money from Dad and shirt from Mom

 

Zone Conference -June 23, 2017

[From the mission blog]:

Each day the cars were inspected.  Elder Iverson has it down to a science.

 

We followed the same format as yesterday.  The zones in attendance on Friday were:  Camarillo, Newbury Park, Thousand Oaks, and Simi Valley.  The zone leaders led their zones in the breakout session.  Thousand Oaks - Confirming the Restoration with the Book of Mormon.  Read the last two paragraphs of the Intro to the Book of Mormon.  It is important to emphasize the importance of prayer.  A goal towards teaching to restoration is to read the Book of Mormon.

The Newbury Park Stake provided lunch of subway sandwiches, watermelon, chips and rootbeer floats.

Clean car awards:

Thousand Oaks Zone

 

We had fewer missionaries in this zone conference than yesterday.  Both days were powerful focusing on the Book of Mormon and Jesus Christ.  We have looked forward to these zone conferences in wanting the missionaries to know the Book of Mormon is the word of God and the importance of reading it daily.  Also that Jesus is the Christ and He lives.  We are so blessed to have the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives and be representatives of Him. 

Time Keeps Passing

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY! I know it was yesterday, but just pretend that it's yesterday ok? Haha Dad, I hope you had a great day. Thank you for all you do!

And Happy Father's Day to all the other dads! None of us would be who we are without you!

This week flew by. This transfer flew by. This is our 5 week transfer and this is the fifth week. I can't even tell you how fast it's gone. We have Zone Conference this week and then a new Mission President next week. 😮

This past week was good! On Tuesday, Sister A** and I had exchanges with our Sister Training Leaders, Sisters D** and H**. I went with Sister H** and we had a blast. She is so sweet and I learned a lot from her. Cool fact: One of Jackie Chan's houses is in their area and we were so close to it! We tried to find the road that goes up to it, but couldn't. Everyone needs the gospel and we wanted to bring it to him!

We've been working a lot with the members and the youth. The youth are amazing and are constantly doing missionary work which is incredible. One of our young women actually asked us yesterday to come out with us so she is coming out with us tomorrow! 

Sister A and I have come to be close friends with a group of 10-11 yr old girls. There are about five of them and they live in our complex so we see them all the time. This past week J**, one of the girls, asked us for a Book of Mormon for herself and a Spanish one for her mom. That night we were able to teach them a little bit about Jesus Christ, the Restoration, and the Book of  Mormon. It was a cool experience. All of them wanted a copy. A couple days later J** told us that she was halfway through (the children's version) and that her mom was reading her Spanish copy and they both loved it. We were able to meet her mom who asked us to teach J**!  The only thing is she will be gone for a month in **. We are hoping we can at least start to teach her before she leaves. She is the sweetest little girl and has such a big heart. We love her and the rest of our friends, too!

Our P-day ends at 2 today....because Sister A** and I get to go to the temple!!! We get to go in our bday months and Sister A's birthday was June 6! We are so thankful to the family who is taking us. Brother S** is taking off work to watch the kids so Sister S** can take us. We cried when they texted us offering. They are so sweet and we are just so thankful! Temples are such a blessing. It is our way to do missionary work any time we can. Please take advantage of the temple. My calling is to work with the living and I can't tell you how much the temple blesses us and those we are standing in place of. Your call as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is to work with the living and the dead. There are people waiting on BOTH sides for you specifically to find and/or help them gain salvation. 

I hope this week is a good one for you all. I have finished marking the attributes of Christ in the BoM and am now marking every time it says "heart" or "love". It is stressed so much that everything begins with your heart. I hope that we all are working on fully placing our hearts with the Savior.

xoxo, Sister Groneman

 

I forgot a story!! Sister A** and I found a HUGE spider on our counter one night. Our DL and the other Elders in our District live in our complex so we called them to come kill it. They are the best Elders ever! They came ready to win the battle!! The spider was killed and Sister A** and I are very thankful:)

Sister A** and I got matching elephant shirts:)

Sister H** and me

Hello from Paradise!

This week was another week of fun! Sister A** and I are working hard and meeting great people every day. The ward is still amazing. We are working with them and getting into their homes. We are their cheerleaders basically, just supporting them and encouraging them in the missionary work they are already doing and have the goals to do. 

When we aren't with members, we are out visiting Potentials, Formers, and Less-actives. Just regular stuff we do every day. We've seen some cool miracles with all of them though.

Thursday was a day full of answered prayers. We had prayed to see those we came in contact with the way Heavenly Father sees them. We also prayed to be able to discern what part of the gospel they need to hear most in this part of their lives. AND we prayed to be able to have the courage and confidence to open our mouths. (We want to talk to people and we know we have the promise that He will fill our mouths with words, but sometimes it's hard. Especially when you never used to start conversations haha!) EVERYONE we saw that day was an answer to our prayers. We didn't think twice about talking to them, we loved everyone we met, and it was so clear to us what part of the gospel they needed in their life. We didn't even have to search for it. Everyone opened up to us and told us things they probably wouldn't normally say in a conversation. It was so cool to experience. Heavenly Father answers prayers! We have a few return appointments with these people this week!

We had our last interview with President and Sister Felix this week. It's so sad to think that they are leaving in about 2 weeks. I thought it was going to be forever until they had to go home, but these last 4 months have flown by. It's like I blinked and they are leaving:( They are truly amazing and love the gospel and the Savior. I am so lucky that I was able to have 4 months with them. Their Homecoming is July 9 at 9:00am.

Well, I hope you all have a great week! Don't do anything stupid, but don't be boring!:)

xoxo,
Sister G

 

We celebrated Sister A's birthday this week!!

There are roses everywhere and I'm in heaven!

 

Read the Book of Mormon!

Hey!

Can I just stay here forever! Sister A** and I are just having too much fun! We love it here in Moorpark. The hottest it has been here so far is around 87. Our ward boundaries have a lot of neighborhoods that are gated, then a couple that have a lot of houses with cars lining the streets. And a lot of Hispanics...So when tracting, we either stumble through conversations, or walk around the gated neighborhoods only talking to those outside. It's great though! We've been giving a lot of referrals to other missionaries. The work goes on!

The ward is still amazing. We are going to start something with the active members called the "one-pager". It has had a lot of success in other areas so we are excited! It's a page to fill out to help them to know what to do with their friends and family to bring them closer to Christ. It has ideas from getting to know/spending time and serving them, to inviting them to things. It's nice because most people think that missionary work is just inviting them to be baptized and it's not! The first step is loving and serving them!

We, as missionaries in the Great CVM, are reading and finishing the Book of Mormon by the time President and Sister Felix go home (3 more weeks:(). While reading, we are marking the characteristics of Christ. It is so incredible to see just how many there are. I am almost done and the pages are just filled with highlighted words and phrases. The Book of Mormon is so powerful and it truly is another testament of  Jesus Christ. If you are not reading it, I invite you to start doing so! We have been promised that our testimony will be strengthened, we will be able to handle whatever the adversary puts in our path, and we will never go astray. And if you think about it, everything the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is rides on this very book. EVERYTHING. Isn't it important to read it? If it's hard to understand, please mark the characteristics of Christ as you are reading. I have never understood The Book of Mormon more.

I hope you all have a great week. Please remember that we all have a part in assisting in the Lord's work. We are all needed in this fight for truth and righteousness. No one else has the talents and abilities that the Lord has specifically blessed you with. YOU are needed:)

xoxo,

Sister Groneman