November 24, 2014

Hello family! and Happy Thanksgiving! Weird to think that this time last year I was saying that from Mexico.

 

This week has been so good! We had a zone conference with our mission president and it was definitely the best zone conference I've ever been to. We were able to participate a lot and I even taught for a little bit of it! He told us a few weeks ago to prepare to present a story from the scriptures that talks about someone being converted, so everyone got to studying! Well when we got there he said he wasn't going to pick anyone out of the blue but if we were prepared and would like to share we could. So I stepped out of my comfort zone and presented what I had studied and what I learned, we turned it into a bit of a discussion and I ended up learning so much more! I'm so grateful for that opportunity I got this week.

Also, the change of weather caused a bit of a cold for me. Luckily it's on it's way out. One of our investigators makes natural medicine from plant extracts and what-not and it's been doing the trick! My mission president heard me coughing up a lung in the zone conference and made a comment about finally coming out of the desert and this is what the new weather does to me!

This week we went on exchanges with some sisters serving in Palm Desert. It didn't help my cold very much to go back out to the desert for a day but it was nice to see a couple familiar faces.

 

Time's running out but I love you all and will talk to you next week!

Love,

Hermana Granado

Pictures:

Bishop Rabago and his wife in Indio

Ward mission leader, Hermano Garcia and his family in Indio

Our investigator Tibby in Indio

Also this week, while we were coming out of zone conference (it is right across from the temple), I ran into some members from Rialto and Fontana, it was so good to see them and even though I was only in Fontana for a few weeks right at the beginning of my mission, they still remember me!

November 18, 2014

Welcome to Redlands!

 

Well I'm back with Hermana Lauaki-Sablan and I'm SO HAPPY!!! She's really one of my very best friends. And even if I have a companion for the rest of my mission, I won't be with them as long as I've been with Hermana Lauaki-Sablan. I've spent 1/3 of my mission with this girl! Her birthday is coming up too if anyone would like to send her a little card or something! It's on the 25th.

My first few days here in Redlands I've gotten to meet some of the members and investigators we'll be teaching and I love them already! I'm serving in a branch, which is smaller than a ward, so this area has less members than anywhere I've served before. The branch's name is Lugonia and I've met the branch president (like the Bishop) and he is so great! I'm really excited to see what great things we can do here!

 

We had a Thanksgiving dinner with the branch on Friday and that was really fun! Then Saturday we volunteered with a community center here in Redlands, collecting and weighing and sorting food for the needy. Such a cool experience. Later Saturday night we had a session of Stake Conference and got to meet with other wards in the Redlands area to hear from different local Church leaders. Sunday morning we had another session of Stake Conference where my mission president and his wife spoke. They live in our branch boundaries but go to the english ward since his wife and kids don't speak Spanish. But he lives pretty close to us! And their messages Sunday were really great. It was cool to hear him speak to other members of the church instead of us missionaries.

We also did this activity called Women of Faith where different sisters from different wards get together and we were knitting and doing Christmas ornaments and all kinds of little projects for Christmas. I love doing service and it seems to be really big in Redlands, especially this time of year.

 

I was planning on sending pictures of my saying bye to everyone in Indio but forgot my cord, so expect some good pictures next time! Love you! Have a great week!

 

Love,

Hermana Granado

November 10, 2014

So this week has been a bit crazy but let's start with transfer news, shall we?

I thought I'd be staying in the area, especially because Hermana Southwick leaves in less than 3 weeks but it turns out I'm being transferred! So Wednesday morning I'm heading to Redlands, way back to the other side of the mission. And my new companion is Hermana Lauaki-Sablan! She's the one you guys talked to on Mother's Day. We were together for 5 months in Rialto and became best friends and now almost a year later we got put back together for her last 5 weeks! I'm so excited!

I'm a little bummed about leaving at this time though because we have some amazing investigators that we're working with and they're all doing so well! Two of them are getting baptized in the next two weeks so it makes me sad to know I won't get to be here for that. But I know the Lord needs me in Redlands and I'm excited to go and see what I can do for the people there! I'm also sad to leave Hermana Southwick after such a short time but she promised to write me when she's home so that's good!

I caught a bit of a flu bug yesterday but it was just a 24 hour thing, I had a fever and needed to stay in and rest for a little bit but I'm pretty much back to normal and ready to go out and work today!

Other than that nothing else new has been going on. I love this ward and the members here and I love the people we're teaching, I'm going to miss them a lot. Sorry this was a short one, I'll tell you all about Redlands next week!

Love,

Hermana Granado

November 3, 2014

 Happy November!

Hope you all had a happy and safe Halloween, our mission president wanted us all to be in by 6pm for safety but we got special permission to go to our ward Halloween party! Two of our investigators came and it was so fun! Hermana Southwick and I dressed like twins because everyone ALWAYS asks us if we're sisters.

On Sunday the time changed and we fell back an hour, so that was super nice to get an extra hour of sleep. But now I keep waking up at 5 or 5:30 because my body is just used to it. So hopefully I adjust soon!

Speaking of adjusting, it got down to 69 degrees last night and I was in a long dress with a sweater and I was shivering! I am grateful the summer is over here but I'm not prepared for winter...

On Wednesday we went to the park to write some birthday cards for people in our ward and while we were there, a man walked up with his lunch for a little break before he went back to work. So we started talking a little bit and it turns out he is an investigator of crime scenes and used to work for the secret service and all that crazy stuff! But he was really interested in what we do as missionaries and his first question was "Why do you believe there is a God?" and the conversation just went from there! He had a lot of really great questions and we could tell that he was really interested in why we were on missions and why we believed what we do. He had to get back to work but it was really cool to hear a little bit about his life and answer some of his questions. These are only things that happen to missionaries! It was such a cool experience.

Not much else to report on but I hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Hermana Granado

Twin pic!

Seb, he reminds me so much of Cordell!