Stephanie's Christmas & New Years!

Hello family! 

Sorry about last week, I wanted to make sure that Hermana Jaynes had time to email. But let's start with last week.. It was so good to talk with you all on Christmas, I hope you enjoyed your Italian dinner :) we were invited to have dinner with one of the senior missionary couples that works in the mission office. They invited us and five other sisters over and they said they loved preparing the meal because it reminded them of cooking for their kids and they didn't feel so far from home. It was nice to have dinner with them and, as much as I love Mexican food, the ham and cheesy potatoes and rolls and fresh fruit was exactly what I needed this Christmas! Thank you again for all the Christmas cards and packages and goodies you all sent, I felt very very loved.

But, as was expected, with the holidays it was hard to get into some houses because they were busy and spending time with their families. We were able to bake some cookies though and deliver them to some of our investigators and other families in our area. They loved them! Well, I'm not sure how good the cookies were but they loved that we thought of them and they loved our visit. A lot of people are so much nicer during Christmas.

Then on the 27th we had a mission wide conference! Which is rare. This is only the 3rd time we've done it since I've been here, and one of those times was a multi-mission conference so we didn't get to really talk to other missionaries from our old areas. But this time we got a lunch break and we were able to socialize a little bit which was so great! I got to ask questions about my old areas and see how my old investigators are doing and I got to see missionaries like sister Tauteoli that I haven't seen in forever, it was so good to get to catch up with her. It's crazy how fast time flies!

This week was good! My birthday was great, thank you for all the birthday wishes and treats :) I am very spoiled and I loved getting to spend my birthday doing what I love to do. We had such a good day, even though it was pouring - that just makes things more interesting. 

New Years was good, we had to be in at 6 for safety and we spent the night planning for the coming week. It was a quiet New Years, so quiet that I didn't wake up even once! Guess our whole apartment complex went to sleep early, or I was just that tired haha. But my companion and I were sitting on our beds talking and reflecting on the past year and the year to come and it was so crazy to think that at that time last year I was in her exact position. I was in my first area here in California, with my trainer, and I remember thinking that I had the whole year of 2014 ahead of me and that the entire year would be dedicated to the Lord doing His work and now here I am and now I'm the trainer and the coming year holds so many changes and adventures for me I just don't know how to handle it! I'm excited to see all that the year 2015 holds for all of us.

On Monday our mission president's daughter got home from her mission in Chile and she was dying to go out with us and get back into doing missionary work. So we picked her up for the day and even though a lot of our plans fell through, she got a reminder of the real side of missionary work! 

Yesterday at church was one of the best Sundays ever! One of our investigators came and since it was the firstSunday of the month, anyone who would like to can go up and bear their testimony of the gospel. And she went up! She said she doubted a little bit because she's not a member yet but that she wanted to bear her testimony that she knew the gospel is true and that she knew that what the missionaries (us) are teaching her is true and that she's excited to get baptized. So we're planning her baptism for this Saturday! We're really excited.

Plus there were a lot of less actives there who haven't been to church in a long time so we were all really happy to see that! Such good things!

Love you all!

Hermana Granado

December 22, 2014

Hey family, so hope you all had a wonderful week, just to let you know, we found a place to Skype on Christmas day (the 25th) we'll try and call at 3pm so hopefully you'll all be together at that time!

This week was a bit crazy, I dropped Hermana Lauaki-Sablan off at President Van Cotts house Monday and spent the rest of the night with my roommate Sister Porter since her companion went home too. Then Tuesday Sister Porter got her new companion so we were in a trio that day. Then Wednesday morning I got to go to the mission office to meet my new companion! All the brand new missionaries and their trainers go to a meeting from 9-3 that day to help them learn a little bit of the basics. Then once we got out of the meeting, we dropped her stuff off and jumped right into working that night. I could tell it was a lot for her but that's how the mission is! And she hung right in there. 

Her name is Hermana Jaynes and she's from Riverton, Utah. She is 19 and went to Utah State for a year before her mission! Instant connection. She's so great and such a hard worker. It's so weird to think that all my companions are home now except for Hermana Baird that I was in the MTC with and now Hermana Jaynes. And they're all emailing me about work and school and boys. Life goes on after the mission I guess!

Anyway, on Thursday we got to give service at the community center I was telling you about. We worked in the Christmas shop where parents who couldn't afford to give their kids gifts could come and pick from toys and books that had been donated. The best part was when they found the perfect thing for their kids, their face just lit up picturing how they'd play with it. And I got to practice my Spanish! I was the only one there that could communicate with them so every time a Spanish speaker walked in they called me. It was the best!

Saturday we had a Christmas party with our branch and it was so great to see how many people came and the activity was so fun and good to build unity with the people in our branch. Plus Hermana Jaynes got to meet a lot of the members and they just think she's the cutest thing!

Talk to you all on Christmas!

Love,

Hermana Granado

December 15, 2014

Today is a bit of a bitter-sweet day. Hermana Lauaki-Sablan leaves me today to go to the mission President's house for the night then she flies home to Seattle tomorrow! She is having mixed feelings (just like every missionary does when they leave) but I know her family can't wait to see hertomorrow!

As for me, I'll stay with my roommate for the night since her companion is going home too and thentomorrow her new companion will come to Redlands and we'll be in a trio for the rest of the day trying to work both of our areas. Then Wednesday morning they will take me to the mission office to get my new companion. I'd tell you all about her except... she's brand new to the mission! Yep, I'm training a brand new missionary. Fresh out of the MTC. There was only one Spanish sister coming in this transfer so I was positive one of the other sisters would be training her but I guess the Lord had some other plans in mind. So wish me luck and I'll tell you all about her next week after I meet her!

This last week with Hermana Lauaki-Sablan was a good one! We were able to find two new people who are interested in learning more and they seem great! I'm so excited to be able to work with them :)

We also got to have dinner with our branch president and he and his wife took us out to Famous Daves, what a treat! We are pretty spoiled.

We also got some more rain this week which was good for this drought! Running out of time but I'll give you all the low down on my new companion next week! Love you!

Love,

Hermana Granado

December 8, 2014

Hello, hello family!

Sorry my email last week was so short, I just have no time to write! But I will try my best to make up for it. 

I feel like I haven't really given you a feel for where I am. We live in Redlands and cover all of Highland, Loma Linda, part of San Bernardino, and the single women in Redlands and Mentone. So... our area is HUGE! I'm still struggling to recognize the streets and where I'm going and how to get there. Thank goodness my companion has a GPS because I'd be so lost without that thing.

I forgot to mention to you that I had the lovely opportunity to speak in sacrament meeting last Sunday, they asked me to speak for 7-8 minutes just sharing my testimony of missionary work. So that's what I did! I shared an experience that I had in my very first area (Fontana) where I knew NOTHING about being a missionary but how I was led by Heavenly Father to be where I needed to be right at the exact time I needed to be there to help a family. 

We got to do exchanges a few times this transfer, I got to spend a day with Hermana Jepperson, Hermana Eardley and Hermana Ramos, all of which are amazing sisters! I am really hoping that one day Hermana Jepperson and I get to be companions, but that's for the Lord to decide. Hermana Eardley is headed to Panama this week, she came to California to wait for her visa and it came so she's off! Glad I got to meet her and spend some time with her though. And Hermana Ramos is brand new to the mission and it reminded me a lot of how I felt at the beginning and how hard it was for me to learn Spanish. But she's so great and she got baptized when she was 18 too so we got to swap stories :) I am very very lucky to get to meet all these great sisters.

I also got to have an interview with our mission president, President Van Cott the other day. Usually he interviews every missionary once every 4 months or so but I'm a few months behind. Luckily he had time to have me in for an interview and it was so good to get some input on how I'm doing, how I can do better, how I've changed and how I can improve more. I really lucked out as far as mission presidents go! President Van Cott is such a great man and he teaches us so much about the scriptures and conversion, he has sacrificed so much to come here and serve as a mission president and his family gives so much of their time to help and support us. Serving in Redlands is great because I'm so close to them and get to see them more often. Today for example, our zone went to their house for an activity and we just did crafts, played with the pool table, played volleyball, ping pong, basketball, ate ice cream, all kinds of stuff! Sister Van Cott is so great and so loving and takes such good care of us :)

Anyway, this week has been great, as always. We are working hard and trying to make a difference here in our gigantic area. I feel like we're doing a good job of touching the hearts that we can but of course we could always do better. I love this area and I know that as I get more and more familiar with it I'll love it even more!

On Tuesday Hermana Lauaki-Sablan went to a meeting so she was gone for a pretty big chunk of the day so I stayed here and worked with a member named Kaytlin who just got home from her mission not too long ago, she served in Chile and was excited to come out with me for the day and practice her Spanish! I was so glad she was able to come spend the day with me so that we could go visit the members and investigators in our area while Hermana Lauaki-Sablan was gone. Then that afternoon we taught an English class. 

Every Tuesday we teach English classes at Family Services which is just a community center here in Redlands. It's not affiliated with the Church so we can't bring religion into it at all but it's so fun to get to meet new people and help them learn. And I think it's really great that there are community centers like this one that have such great opportunities and free classes and meals for those in need. We get to do a lot of service activities there!

Oh and it rained like CRAZY this week! Mostly Wednesday and Thursday I think were the days that it rained the hardest. I almost didn't know what to do with myself, I'm so not used to that! But I got to break out the rain jacket which was exciting :) And it was good because boy, does California need the rain! I hope Arizona got some too!

We're still trying really hard to find new people to teach. You'd think it wouldn't be hard to find people in all the area that we have but it's still challenging. But I know that as we keep working hard and try to do what the Lord would have us do, we will be in the right place at the right time to find those that are looking for the gospel right now.

Well I feel like my fingers are going to fall off by now but I hope this makes up for my short emails these past couple weeks, I love you all and wish you could be here experiencing all these amazing things with me! Hope you all got the chance to watch that video He is the Gift. I loved it and we've gotten to share it with a lot of people lately! I love and miss you all and I'm so excited to see/talk to you on Christmas! 

Love,

Hermana Granado

I keep wanting to send this but just forget. The Phoenix temple was finished and the open house was a success so it was time for the cultural celebration and dedication! A lot of the youth around Phoenix got to prepare and practice then perform dances and different things as a cultural celebration. The prophet and some others went to Phoenix and were there to enjoy the celebration by the youth. Then the Prophet, President Thomas Monson dedicated the temple which basically means he said a prayer and dedicated the building to the Lord. So from that time forth it will be used for special ordinances, like all the other temples. Here is a little short video of the cultural celebration and dedication and it explains a little more, probably better than I can.

http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/phoenix-arizona-temple-dedicated-president-thomas-monson?cid=HPMO111714486

Also, this weekend there was a Christmas devotional! I didn't get to watch it this year but I've seen it a few times and it's always so good! here's a link if you'd like to see it!

https://www.lds.org/broadcasts/archive/christmas-devotional/2014/12?cid=HPSU120714547&lang=eng

December 1, 2014

Hey family! Can you believe it's December already?! I sure can't!

This week was a really busy and really good week. Hermana Lauaki-Sablan had a great birthday and everyone did a lot to make it a good day for her. 

Wednesday we went on exchanges and I went to Yucaipa for the day with Hermana Jepperson who is just the greatest and I had lots of fun and learned a lot from her.

Thanksgiving was great! In the morning we got to volunteer at the Redlands Turkey Trot 5k and that was really fun, we were at the finish line cheering and making sure no one tripped on the curb. Not a single stumble so we were successful :) Then we spent some time baking and writing little notes for our investigators and members in our area and delivered them. They were so good that they were still talking about them on Sunday! We've been named the best cookie makers of the branch! We had two dinners with members and were stuffed! Oh, and fun fact: it got up to 97 degrees on Thanksgiving! We're definitely in California! 

And now it's December and it's Christmas season which is always my favorite time of the year, even more so when I'm a missionary. It just seems that peoples hearts are softened more and are naturally turned to the Savior, which makes our job easier! 

The weeks are just flying by like crazy especially because I'm still trying to get to know the area here and the people. And also because Hermana Lauaki-Sablan goes home on December 16th so that is just sneaking up on us like no ones business. As of right now she's the only one of my companions that is still out here with me so when she goes home all my companions will be home! That is so crazy for me to think about! The time goes so fast, too fast!

Hope you all have a great week, love and miss you!

Love,

Hermana Granado

A little Christmas message :)

http://www.mormon.org/christmas?cid=HPFR112814529

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