December 30, 2013

Feliz cumpeanos a mi :) I'm 21 today how crazy is that?!

This week has been crazy and somewhat uneventful all at the same time so this may be a pretty short email but I will try to include as much as I remember. Christmas was good, it was so good to get to talk to you guys and see you all. You will all have to plan to be together on Mother's Day as well so we can all chat like that. For Christmas dinner we had tamales after tamales after tamales. With some tamales on the side. And tamales to take home. Then leftover tamales. Did I mention a few families fed us tamales? I'm going to turn into a tamale!

Also, I got all your letters the day after Christmas, so don't worry, they're getting to me! 

I am having a really hard time remembering things about this week that I can tell you about but there's not much. Most of the people we're teaching were either sick this week or out of town or busy with holiday plans so we didn't do a lot of teaching. In fact this week we did the least teaching than any other week I've been here. It was pretty discouraging but lots of people said after the new year so hopefully they keep their word! We were supposed to have Antonio's baptism yesterday but he cancelled, it is a really long story but I was really sad and he was disappointed because he still wants to get baptized. But I think he made the smart and very mature decision to cancel, I have faith that he will get baptized, we just have some more work to do.

We had a mission-wide conference today with a member from the quorum of the seventy apostles. Elder Kent F. Richards, it was really really good and I got some lessons that I really needed. Lately I've been struggling with the language, you guys know that, and I've found myself wishing that I could just serve English speaking. I kept wondering why I have to learn Spanish and why I can't learn it faster, just getting really frustrated. Then today at the conference Elder Richards was talking about something completely different but he said "Is there a limit to how much we would give the Lord?" and I thought about that... I thought about what I was willing to give the Lord. Then I thought about my decision to serve a mission. What did I think it would be like? I decided to come and share the gospel, invite others to come unto Christ. And I have been called to do that in Spanish. So who am I to say it's too hard? The Lord has given me this assignment! When I filled out my papers did I put that I'll serve for 18 months but only in a language I'm comfortable with, or yeah I'll preach the gospel but I don't want to have to learn new words to do it... no, I said I'd go unto any people, preaching the gospel in any tongue that He needs me. There should not be a limit to how much I am giving to the Lord. I will step down off my soap box now but I am just very very grateful for the insight that I gained today and the new found determination to fulfill my calling to the best of my abilities.

Not much more to report on, still working hard, looking for people to teach, studying lots. The days seem to drag on but weeks fly by! Today I ran into someone I knew in my ward in Logan, he was called to California and I didn't think much of it until I saw him at the conference today. He is already getting to go home! And Philip comes home on January 20th. It doesn't feel like 2 years that he's been gone already and I'm sure it flew by for him! That's why I gotta make the most out of these 18 months! They will be over before I know it.

I love you all so much, thank you for all the birthday wishes, it has been a good one so far! I hope you all have a good week, safe travels, and a smooth transition back to the grind.

Love you all, until 2014 :)

Hey family, Merry Christmas! 

Hope this week has been good and that you get a chance to stop and think about the real reason of Christmas instead of the gifts you need to buy or the decorations you forgot to put up. This time of the year is about so much more!

I realized after my last email that I forgot to tell you about where I'm serving! I am in Fontana, CA in the Sierra ward. Hermana Rosales and I share the ward boundaries with two elders, Gonzalez and Garcia. They've both been out for about a year and Hermana Rosales is going on her 8th month. The ward is great, tiny but powerful. And the stake is so diverse. There are two Spanish wards and a Tongan ward! The Tongans meet in the chapel right after us and it is fun to see the stuff they wear to church. It's usually ceremonial and just cool to see. Yesterday for some reason they had a huge truck full of fresh veggies and fruit and potatoes and they invited us to take what we would like, that was our grocery "shopping" for the week.

And I am the driver in our companionship. Hermana Rosales is from Mexico city and doesn't have very much experience or confidence driving so I have been assigned to be the driver. I was a little overwhelmed at first but I'm thankful because it's helping me get the hang of our area a little more.

I told you guys last week about a guy who cancelled his baptism after learning about the word of wisdom and law of chastity. Well, now let me tell you about a little Christmas miracle. Let me set the scene, he is 22, lives in the garage of some family friends, got out of jail almost a year ago and is really really willing to change. The next lesson we had with him after cancelling his baptism, we showed up and it was very clear he was under the influence of something other than the Holy Ghost. We tried to teach him but he was so fidgety and just couldn't focus or sit still so we decided we'd come back the next day. We set up a time with him when he said he'd be home and came back the next day. He wasn't there. Didn't answer his phone or anything. Then he called us back that night, set up a time for the next day. We went back, same thing, no sign of the guy. He called us later and said that he really wants to change, which we know he does because we could see the desire before, but now we were getting a little discouraged. Then the next day we called him, he said he was home, so we grabbed a member who has experience overcoming addictions and we went to his house determined to help him. We went to his house and he opened the door, he was showered, dressed nicely, had a huge smile, and his book of Mormon in his hand ready to get down to business. During that lesson I saw him do a complete 180, he was calm, he was focused, he was ready to change and already had changed! I saw a light in his eyes when the member we brought was talking to him about how they could work together to beat this and how we're all here to help. He said the closing prayer and he is progressing so much! He came to church yesterday and is getting baptized on December 29th! The day before my birthday and such a great present it will be. My first miracle :)

Also, we have another man who is planning on getting baptized in January, he has the potential to be a stake president or something big, he is so great. He comes to church and participates in class and has really great insights. I learn from him! 

The Spanish is still a struggle, even when I try to have a conversation with the members, I ask them a question and they look at my companion and answer like I'm not there. Or they ask her things like "where is she from? How long has she been on her mission?" and I answer them and they nod and keep talking to her. But I'm learning more and more. The other day I answered the phone and talked to our investigator about our lesson, which is usually my companion's job since the members speak really fast. But I did it and I didn't mess up! And I had to give a 15 minute talk in Sacrament meeting yesterday, with no time to really prepare or practice it, the members said I did well so that's good. I'm progressing! Slowly but surely.

The other day it was raining so much! We finally got invited into a house, I think she just felt sorry for us, but we sat down and were talking and for the longest time I thought their roof was leaking until I realized that my hair was dripping because we were soaked. But my rain jacket served me well! I was toasty and dry under my jacket :)

Time is going so fast, I can't believe Christmas is already here and then next week I'll be 21! Que vieja. Hermana Rosales turns 21 on January 3rd. I told her that she shares her birthday with a very cute 5 yr old :)

Also, we had a funny experience with some dogs the other day. We are pretty accustomed to dogs barking at us lately so when we heard little barks from little dogs we weren't worried. But one of them was not playing around, he was little but ferocious and he believed he could tear my leg off so we just backed up very very quickly and went to the next house. It made me think of Puerto Rico and getting chased by those dogs, it really was preparation.

The days are all full of ups and downs and getting chased by dogs or getting doors slammed in our faces but at the end of the day I wouldn't rather be doing anything else. I have the incredible privilege to teach and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and even after 100 people reject it, there will be one whose life will be changed and will be so grateful for the gospel. It is an honor and a blessing to be out here doing the Lord's work. And even though I have some hard days and some difficult experiences, I'm learning and growing and that's the whole purpose for this life and this mission!

A little Christmas thought... When Jesus Christ was on the Earth he spent his entire life serving. He established His church, taught His gospel, blessed people, preformed miracles, and was constantly in the service of others. Let's try to do the same! It doesn't have to be serving a mission for your church or even working in a soup kitchen, even though those are both awesome things to do. But it can be as simple as doing something small for someone else. Write a little note to someone to tell them why you're thankful for them. Take cookies to someone, help someone do something. Anything. If there's one thing I've learned the past two weeks in the real world mission is that we are always busy. Sometimes we're teaching, sometimes we're trying to find people to teach, sometimes we're in meeting talking about how to be better teachers, but other times we are doing the most odd end jobs that other people need help with and that is what they need at the time. And we're happy to do it! Yesterday we killed cockroaches in a member's house. The day before that we stopped by to visit a less active member and ended up helping her rearrange her garage. One family has a dad/grandpa who is very ill and can't make it to church so we went and carrolled to them and shared a short message so he could feel a little bit of the spirit of Christmas. This year, skip a trip to the store and help someone. They'll like it and remember it much more than whatever you were going to wrap for them, I promise.

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Granado

Week 1 in California! 

I'm here and happily trying to adjust. It is so so different than what they trained me for in Mexico but it's good. I'm going to try to give you lots of details but I know I'll miss a thing or two. Just know it's difficult and great and challenging and all kinds of things but I know this is where I need to be. I thought about coming home one or fifteen times this week but I'm so glad I stuck in there. It is not getting easier but I have prayed harder than I have in a long time and the Lord is helping me and strengthening me because I'm doing the right thing. I know that we're not on Earth just to return to live with Heavenly Father, yes that is the ultimate goal, but we're here to learn and grow and have experiences to strengthen us. And I'm not just on a mission so I can come home, I'm here to learn and grow and help people. Where would I be if the missionaries that taught me would have given up? I would definitely not be where I am and I am pretty dang sure I wouldn't be this happy or know what my purpose is in life. So I won't give up because I know someone here needs me. 

I'm going to start when I got assigned to my area because everything before that was just plain craziness. 

On Wednesday we had a transfer meeting where everyone meets at the mission office and trades companions and whatnot. The newbies and their trainers had a meeting about the adjustment phase and training. (The first 12 weeks I'm here is my training.) So at the end of my meeting I got assigned my companion who will be my trainer. Her name is Hermana Rosales and she is from Mexico. She actually went to high school at Benemerito before it was an MTC! She didn't know any english before the mission but she is really really good! Hopefully that's how my spanish will be.

We went to walmart and got some basics, we are going shopping after this to get some real groceries. 

There are 4 missionaries in my ward which I've never heard of before! It is us and a pair of elders, the ward boundaries is split up so we each have our area for proselyting. We have had dinner every night this week with a member or investigator and man do they feed us good! One night we had homemade tortillas with dinner! Last night we had tamales and homemade cheesecake. I'm not going without, trust me.

Leaving my district has been really hard, it's kinda like when I left you guys, I miss them a lot. But the missionaries here are great, I just don't get to see them a lot. Today we played soccer together. Me and Hermana Rosales are the only sisters in our zone. But our game was fun, I accidentally kicked a guy in the head. I apologized like 20 times... We also went to the fitness center in our apt complex this morning. My companion has gained 20 lbs in her 7 months on the mission so I'm helping her, told you I wasn't going without!

We are trying to find more people to teach but it's really hard. We had someone with a baptismal date but when we taught him the Word of Wisdom (no coffee, alcohol, tea, drugs, etc) and the law of chastity he said it was too hard so we cancelled his baptismal date but he wants to keep meeting with us so we're trying to help him.  

I don't have any pictures from California yet, but I'm going to send some from my last days at the CCM in Mexico. The one of me standing in the circle, that's an earthquake circle, if we heard the alarm we were supposed to run and stand in one of those. Me and Hermana Baird with Hermano Munoz, he was our teacher, the one that I sent a pic of him playing soccer. The one of us holding stuff, those are pens that Hermano Gilisea's wife made for us for Christmas, so cute.

Thank you all so much for my packages. Thanks to you guys I have sheets on my bed and an Ensign to read while wearing my gameday shirt, a christmas tree and a stocking filled with prizes. I am one lucky lucky girl!

Love you all so much, I'm in California so letters are welcome! We've had an air box all week, just saying. I have written you all, some of you should have gotten a letter and if not, it's coming. I've been a letter writing fool these past couple days! I am almost out of time so I gotta get cracking on the pictures. Love and miss you and I'll email next week!

Con Amor,

Hermana Granado

Also, don't be fooled thinking that I'm in a sunny paradise here. It's pretty cold at night and the wind literally blew me off the sidewalk the other day. My hair is constantly a mess and sometimes I eat dirt while I talk. But all I have to say is thank goodness I'm not in Alaska or Logan walking around in my flats and a skirt. I am definitely blessed. 

I feel like I should explain the sentence where I said my hair is always a mess and I eat dirt when I talk. It's really windy all the time. Really windy.Also, I didn't tell you about my apartment. It's tiny, just me and Hermana Rosales. It's quiet but we can keep it clean. When we moved in it was a mess because elders lived there before us and just left it disgusting. But the zone leaders helped us bring our stuff in and they took our apartment keys. We left to go teach a lesson and help with a service project and when we came back our keys were under the mat and we walked in to find it spotless. The zone leaders did a really great job of scrubbing it clean, vacuuming, the whole nine yards. They even organized our suitcases in our room and set them up nicely. It was really nice. Since we are the only sisters in our zone they take really good care of us. 

Love you!

Hola familia, Surprise! 

We get to email the day before we leave, which is really nice because I'm pretty sure I won't get another Pday until Monday.

So here's the deal, my flight got rerouted because of snow in Dallas. But I'm leaving the MTC at 2:30am tomorrow, my flight leaves Mexico at 7am then I should be in California at 11:15. I don't know what my first day will be like, I have no idea what to expect but I'll tell you all about it next week! I will get assigned to my trainer (my first companion in the field) then I start working!

Now you can all write me letters to my California address! If you don't have it, here it is:

Hermana Stephanie Granado 
California Redlands Mission 
7000 Central Ave 
Highland, CA 92346

and you can also continue to email me at this address. I love getting all the pictures from you and hearing about your lives lately! Makes me sad I'm not there but we'll just have more stories to share in 2015.

The last days here in the CCM have been awesome. Emotionally exhausting but awesome. I am still shocked at how incredibly hard it was to say bye to my district members who left this morning. The hardest part is not knowing if I'll be able to see them when we get home. But I hope I will! We got some pictures with our teachers but I will send them next week when I actually have a preparation day. 

So much has happened this last week in the MTC that I can't begin to tell you but just know I have loved it and have learned so so much. Now it's real! I'm off to save some souls in California. I'm nervous but so so excited. I can't do accents on this computer and I don't have access to Google translate so my Spanish won't look pretty but I want to tell you all what's in my heart…

Yo se que este iglesia es verdadera. Yo se que Jesucristo es mi salvador y es nuestro salvador. Y este evangelio es el mismo evangelio que Jesucristo ensño durante su vida terrenal. Dios no envio a la tierra para progresar y aprender. Dios nos conoce perfecamente y El sabe que cada persona necesita experimentar y aprender para llegar a ser la persona que Dios quiere seamos.Yo se estoy aqui por un razon y este razon es para predicad el evangelio de Jesucristo. Me encanta este trabaja y estoy amada para llegar en California. Les extraño mucho pero no quiero estar un lugar que no esta California. Me encanta que soy una misionera y un representante de Jesucristo. Yo se que ustedes van a ser bedecido porque yo estoy aqui ahora. Yo ha aprendi mucho y voy a continuar a aprender. Las seis semanas pasadas era muy dificil pero muy bueno tambien. Mi español no es perfecto y no soy una maestra perfecta pero, con el espiritu santo, puedo hacer milagros en las vidas de mis investigadores. Gracias por su apoyo y su amor. Les ama mucho! 

I love you all, pray for my safe travels and I'll talk to you when I'm in California!

Con amor,
Hermana Granado

Last week en el CCM! 

Thank you so much for all your emails, I look forward to hearing from you every week.

First, let's get some logistics out of the way. I am leaving Mexico on Tuesday, my flight is at 6:05 am then I have a layover in Dallas, TX and then to California! I should arrive around 11am. I'm not sure if I will get to call or email or anything to let you know if I got there or not, just know that no news is good news. If I don't show up they have my emergency contact info. 

My final days at the MTC (or CCM) are pretty crazy. We have class all day and are continuing to teach our investigators but we also have some things we need to do before we head out. We have meetings on meetings on meetings, some orientation, a language assessment, and then another meeting or two. Our district is all so excited to get to their missions but we are a little sad to leave each other. We've gotten pretty close and have learned a lot from each other. We decided we will all write each other before we go, we're going to pass around a notebook or something for everyone to write in and leave their contact info so we can keep in touch and find each other after the mish. I am honestly grateful to have been able to meet every single one of them. 

Once I get in California Preparation days will most likely be on Mondays. So since I get there Tuesday you might not hear from me at all next week, but don't fret! The address for the rest of my mission until further notice is the Highland address in CA, don't be afraid to write, I love getting letters.

So, on to what happened this week.

Thanksgiving was good, even though it is not a holiday celebrated in Mexico the comedor workers made us a special lunch with turkey and pumpkin pie so that was really sweet. Then we had a devotional that night from Elder Holland and that was even better than the pie! Then for gym time all the elders got a turkey bowl going and we watched football like real Americans! It was so fun. 

For service yesterday we folded sheets again then we helped clean a casa. I have my first blisters! I have three actually. One is a blister on top of a blister so that's fun. They don't hurt too bad, and they're almost healed but I thought I'd let you guys know. 

I heard there was a big snow storm in UT yesterday! We were supposed to have a devotional last night but it was deemed too dangerous for the general authority to drive to Provo so we just watched a recorded one. Hope everything is okay there!

The past couple days I've been super tired, which is weird because you'd think that my body would have gotten used to the schedule by now. But I've been totally fine up until the past three days or so and I just do not want to wake up in the morning. I'll get over the hump I'm sure, my poor companion just has to deal with me being a little cranky in the mornings. 

She is doing better by the way. Hermana Baird says she is okay with the divorce, she sent her parents a long email last week and got it all out. Now she's back with her shoulder to the wheel. 

Oh and we've had ridiculously cold showers this week. Those are the worst. It's not anymore incentive to get out of bed when I know my shower is going to be freezing. But then I think of some girls I know going to Honduras and going to be showering out of buckets and then it's not so bad.

Today we took some time and went down to the soccer field because our teacher Hermano Muñoz is playing a tournament today. We saw him score a goal and cheered super loud for him, he's awesome. I'll try to send a picture of him. And thank you so much for the pictures! I got them on Monday and showed them to everyone I know. I love them, thank you so so much.

This week our district has been a little obsessed with riddles. We told each other lots of them the other day while TALL was broken, Technology Assisted Language Learning. So we studied in class and told riddles.

Last week Hermana Baird and I decided that because she was having such a tough day we'd go to la tienda and stock up on candy bars. So we did and we had a little pow wow in the living room with some other hermanas in our district, I'll attach a picture of us holding up our mexican chocolates.

Oh! Our district also has this obsession with la tienda. The elders go literally every day. We hermanas go about twice a week. But the new thing is, for everyone to write in, we've gotten notebooks from la tienda. All the notebooks have animals on them so of course we have to name them as a district. I got a small one with a butterfly that we named Stella and then a bigger one with an ocelot on it that we named Striker. Both of which go well with Stephanie :)

A funny story about this week, Hermano Gilisea was teaching us one night and Elder Lloyd in my district told him he had swag. Hermano Gilisea doesn't know much english so he was confused and asked "Swag... ¿es bien o mal?" So we all said bien, bien and he smiled and straightened his tie and says with a grin "tengo swag" and walked away. It was hilarious! He said he was going to bring his wife in on Saturday and said she'd bring us chips and salsa which apparently they don't eat a lot here. But we're all so excited!

Hermano Muñoz makes us laugh too. He knows a lot of English though so we can joke more with him. We were talking to him the other day about American music and he was saying that he likes Imagine Dragons and Adele and One Republic. It was weird to think about things like that because I haven't listened to any of that in what seems like forever!

Today we went to the temple for the last time, it was so good. There is a temple in Redlands but I don't know if or when I'll get to go to it. We got some pictures with our branch president and his wife so I'll send those. They are super sweet, they live here on campus so they said that on Sunday we can all go over to their house and have ice cream and say goodbye.

We have been doing language study outside almost everyday this week, it's freezing in the mornings but so nice in the afternoons. They set up a nativity outside the comedor and there are poinsettias everywhere. I'm so excited for Christmas, can you believe it's so close?! and then I turn 21. Crazy!

Well I'll send pictures, I know I'm forgetting to tell you a ton but I don't have much time left. Love you all! Next time you hear from me I'll be in California!

Con amor, 

Hermana Granado

These are with the branch president and his wife, President and Sister Jewell, at the temple, they are the best! It's going to be sad saying goodbye to them and my teachers and Mexico but I was called to California so that's where I'm going! Love you all.