April 6, 2015

Hello family! I hope you all had a great Easter weekend, I know I did! General Conference was so great! There were lots of messages that I personally needed to hear. I am so excited to go over my notes again and try my best to apply what I learned :)

It was a bit of a crazy week trying to get everyone to come see conference or watch it at home, but it was good nonetheless. A lot of you have asked how I feel about coming home, I feel shocked that the time is getting so close. Has it really almost been 18 months? It flew by! But I am excited to see you all and share with you some of the great experiences I've had.

Hermana Ipson is great and I'm learning a ton from her. I feel bad sometimes because she's just starting her mission and she has to watch me prepare to go home and I know that is hard for her. But she is such a trooper! And I know she's going to do wonders taking over the area.

This week I got my itinerary in the mail along with my departing devotional invitations. All the departing missionaries get to have a little testimony meeting their last Sunday where they can invite everyone they want from any area they served in and they share a little experience and testimony, so I'm excited to send those out and get to see all my favorite people from all my areas!

One thing that happened this week - we tried Thai food (duck salad and shellfish soup and some other things that I'm not even going to try to spell.) So that was fun! Then a few days later I ended up eating my weight in jalapenos and my stomach was not too happy with that. My companion asked if I had heart burn and I just looked at her and said "I don't think so... It just feels like, like the walls of my stomach are burning." I was serious but she thought it was the funniest thing!

We're also working a lot with Martina Mora, the one from the picture last week. She's planning on getting baptized here really soon so we're helping here prepare for that! She is one of the sweetest people I've met. 

Sorry this email was a bit all over the place, that's kinda how my mind has been lately - love and miss you all! You're in my prayers!

Hermana Granado

March 30, 2015

This week was so good! Well, I always say that... but it's because they're always so good!

Let's start with the most important. On Saturday we had a mission-wide conference. Those are my favorite! Elder Nielsen of the 1st Quorum of the Seventy came. He shook all of our hands and asked us where we're from and all that good stuff. Then he spent almost 4 hours speaking to us and instructing us. It was probably one of the best mission conferences I've had. He is definitely an inspired man. It was also bittersweet to see all the missionaries that I love and serve with for the last time. Since we are all in different areas now, I don't get to see them except on occasions like that. So we said our last goodbyes and all.

This coming weekend is General Conference. We have it twice a year and it is when the Prophet and Apostles speak to all of us! It will be on Saturday the 4th and Sunday the 5th of April. It will be broadcast on BYU-TV and streamed online. Elder Nielsen that came to speak to us on Saturday will be speaking in General Conference this coming Sunday! That is usually not information that is given out, we usually don't know who will be speaking or when but he let us know so that we could tell our families! So if you get a minute, I'd love it if you could all watch it and look for him. Then when you see Elder Brent Nielsen get up, just know that I shook his hand the other day and talked to him - pretty cool stuff.

Then, Saturday night was another conference, this time for all the women ages 8+. It was so good! They put a lot of emphasis on the family and defending family values, it of course made me think of you all. I am so grateful for all of you and your love and support, thank you for everything!

Other than that, it's been a pretty normal week. We're trying to get Hermana Ipson accustomed to the area so that she'll be ready to take over in a few weeks! We've had a lot of success this week and I know it's because of all your thoughts and prayers and our faith and diligence. 

 

Every blessing we receive from Heavenly Father is according to our diligence, obedience and faith! So keep that up and you'll see the blessings flow in!

I love you all so much and hope you have a great week!

Love,

Hermana Granado

Picture: One of our many wonderful investigators - Martina Mora :) She's from Puerto Rico and when I told her that I went there before my mission she was on cloud 9! I love her so much!

March 23, 2015

Hey everyone! 

Sorry I didn't get to reply to all your emails, still working on getting school figured out and that takes up quite a bit of time. I love hearing how you're all doing, thank you so much for the emails!

This week has been just CRAZY! I have forgotten and lost so many things. But I hear that's the usual for missionaries getting ready to go home. My brain is so scattered sometimes I don't know which way is up! But I'm working though it haha. Plus I have a brand new missionary under my wing so I'm trying my best to show her how it's done so she can handle it when I'm gone. 

My new companion is Hermana Ipson from Brigham City, Utah which is really close to Logan where I went to school, so we have been to a lot of the same places! (There's not much to choose from in Logan or Brigham) She's great, and so willing to work hard. She's got a greenie fire if I've ever seen one! I am already learning from her and I can tell we're going to be a great team! 

Every time you're called as a trainer for a new missionary we go to a meeting with the mission president and his wife and the assistants to the president and we get trained for a good 5 or 6 hours. It was cool to see all the missionaries that have been called to be trainers and teach the new missionaries and I always love seeing the future of our mission - I know it's in good hands with all these new missionaries. There was one point where President Van Cott asked "For you old missionaries, what is something you wish you knew at the beginning of your mission?" So I raised my hand and made a comment and he goes "Did everyone hear that? We're giving you our secrets, Hermana Granado has been out for 17 months, getting ready to go home and she's giving you her secrets!" So that was kinda cool to hear. But also a bit scary to be reminded that my time here is coming to an end.

At transfers we got a pair of elders taken out of the branch so it's just us and 1 set of elders, we had to re-align the boundaries and ended up getting 7 new investigators! So we've definitely been busy! But nothing we can't handle... I hope.

Church yesterday was really good, we had branch conference so the Stake president and our branch president both spoke in sacrament meeting - their messages were really similar. Just about stay faithful and giving your all in everything you do. Especially when it comes to our faith! One thing he said was really cool, our branch president was talking to Donny Osmond once, long story, but he asked him why he thinks so many members fall away from the church. Donny Osmond said that members fall out of the church for the same reason people fall out of bed - THEY'RE NOT IN FAR ENOUGH. When it comes to things that really matter in life, we need to make sure we're committed and that we're in so far that we won't fall out.

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love, your California girl

Hermana Granado

March 16, 2015

Hey family! Hope the first half of March has treated you all really well. Time is just FLYING by. I can't believe it's going so fast.

We had a really good week this week but the highlight was definitely when one of our investigators came with us to a baptism of someone in another ward. Then after the baptism we walked around the temple with her and talked to her about how important baptism is but that's it's not the last step, that we have to continue faithful throughout the rest of our lives... then she asked when she could be baptized! It was such a cool experience.

Today officially starts my last transfer, my last six weeks. So we found out today that Hermana Jaynes is getting transferred to Rialto and that I'll be staying here and training another brand new missionary! She's still in the MTC but I get to pick her up on Wednesday so that'll be exciting and definitely keep me on my toes for my last transfer. 

I've been getting a lot of talks about how I need to make goals and plans for home so I've been trying to do that little by little while I'm winding down for the night or on Mondays so that during the week I can still keep my mind on what I'm doing and the people I'm teaching. 

Yesterday in church we had two speakers that spoke on the importance on missionary work - I love being a missionary! One of them was a guy who just got home from his mission about a month and a half ago and the other was a man from one of the other wards who only spoke English so we had a translator for him. But both of their messages were so great and it made me remember how important it is to share the gospel and really realize what I'm doing everyday. Sometimes it just gets to be routine because I've been doing this for so long but it was so great to pay more attention to WHY this is so important to everyone. I'm not sure if that makes sense, my mind is a little scattered on Mondays trying to do everything that I need to get done.

But I love you all and hope you have a wonderful, safe week!

Love you!

Hermana Granado

March 9, 2015

 

Hey family,

Sorry for the world's shortest email last week. President Van Cott has told me to make sure I'm planning for home and school and everything so that means taking some time out of my emailing time to be able to look at schools online. But! My short emails in no way reflect a lack of wanting to talk to and hear from you! I love getting on and seeing what's happening in all your lives.

Well the past couple weeks have been good! It was pretty chilly last week but thankfully it's warming up. I thought I was going to freeze to death one day, I had on three shirts, a sweater a scarf and a jacket and leggings under my skirts and I was still shivering! Then I looked at the car display and realized it was 57 degrees... I am in big trouble when I head back to Utah!

We've been helping a lot around the community too, doing service and stuff here in Redlands. Lately we've helped remodel the bookstore, it is run completely by volunteers and donations and is a big asset to the community so it was fun to be able to help with that.

One day last week we were in Highland and the member who had signed up to give us dinner cancelled so we decided to go grab something because we couldn't go back to our apartment in Redlands (we have mile restrictions on our cars we use) So anyway, we went out and as we were sitting there eating and chatting, I looked up and a man had appeared at the side of our table, slid a gift card between us and disappeared before I could finish chewing to say thank you! Best of all he left the nicest note saying that he thanked us for serving and how much he appreciated what we do. It was such a tender mercy. The Lord is so mindful of us!

We had a really cool experience at church last week too. One of our investigators, Martina, got up to share her testimony. It was only her 2nd time at church but we've been teaching her for a few months and she says she knows what we're teaching is true! So she got up and told everyone how she honestly has no idea how we found her, all she knows is that she's happy we did! She said "They teach me, they help me and they tell me what to do so that I can make my life better. I love those young ladies" It was such a cool thing to hear her tell her experience, I love being a missionary!

Love,

Hermana Granado

March 2, 1015

Hey Family! Sorry this one is going to be super short.

This week was great, we had lots of great conversations with people on the street. I love talking to people about the gospel. 

I was also able to have an interview with President Van Cott and he helped me think about ways that I can make the most of this time that I have left and also think more about home and make some life plans for when I get back. I love you all and hope you have a great week!

There was a missionary a few years ago that got hit by a bus in Brazil and they weren't sure if he was going to make it. Well he did and although he hasn't made a full recovery, he and his mom spoke at a conference in Utah and someone shared this with me.

The theme of the conference was Develop the Power within You.  The scripture that went with the theme was:  "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."  Philippians 4:13.  The keynote speakers were Karla & Britten Schenk.  Britten was the missionary in Brazil who was hit by a bus and was not expected to live about 3 years ago.  He had major brain trauma.  Karla is his mother and they both spoke.  I hardly think there was a dry eye in the chapel as Karla spoke and then Britten did amazing.  He still has a ways to go -- he is almost 90% blind and still gets things mixed up -- but he was just great. The Schenk's passed out a card that had a picture of Britten in Brazil and then on the back was an email that he had sent to his family previous to him being hit by the bus.   I thought I would share that with you. 

On the front of the card with Britten's picture is the statement:  The future is as BRIGHT as your FAITH.  (President Thomas S. Monson)

On the back of the card was a part of his email:  "There has to be challenges and trials in our lives, to make us rise just a little higher, do just a little better.  It is those challenges and trials that shape who we are, and depending on how we react to them, we can become even better, stronger and more prepared.  Even though, in our lives, when it seems we're doing so good, working so hard and being so righteous, there are challenges.  Because, as we are doing what is right, yes, we are doing good, but, there is no way to continually get better without challenges.  There is a famous quote that says, "Just as a gem cannot be polished without friction, a man cannot be perfected without trials."  Challenges and trials are a part of this life.  We agreed that they would be a part when we accepted Christ's Plan.  I don't believe that God makes things happen to us, but He allows them to happen because He knows that it is through those challenges and trials that we will become better, and that we can become the best we can."  (Britten Schenk)

Love you all! Talk to you next week!

Love,

Hermana Granado

February 23, 2015

This week was so great!

Since Monday was a holiday we did a sports activity for the youth. They didn't have school so it was a good alternative to being in front of the TV or video games for the day. We played soccer and volleyball and a lot of people came! Some of the members that didn't have to work came and brought Gatorade and we had hot dogs and chips so that was super fun.

Wednesday we had zone conferences, which means we got about 6 hours of instruction from our mission president about how we can be better and how we can improve the work that we're doing in order to help the people that we're teaching. It is always a bit of a struggle for me when I am taught how to teach because that means I have to apply it in different situations which I'm not very good at. But we tried our best and we got some people to come to church that haven't been in a really long time! So we saw a little success :)

Also, we had a great time with our little mini-missionaries! There were two girls that came from Yucaipa to spend the day with us. One was 16 and the other one was 20 and they're thinking about going on a mission so they wanted to come see what it's like. So me and my companion each took one and we split up and showed them real missionary work! From getting doors slammed in our faces to helping a recent convert prepare for her talk (that's another story). At the end of it I think it was really good, it helped them see what missionary work is really like and they said they still want to go on a mission! And even more now! So that's good!

The recent convert we helped prepare for her talk was Carmen, the one that I taught in Rialto and then she moved here and got baptized and now I get to work with her as a member! It was so cool to go over and get to talk to her and help her figure out what she wanted to say in her talk on Sunday. It made me reflect on when I met her and taught her over a year ago. It is so cool to see the progress she's made and how far she's come and how happy she is! I love it.

The past two days have been chilly and rainy but other than that I've been LOVING this California weather. It's the best. Definitely does not feel like February. But that's just fine with me! I honestly cannot believe how fast the time is going, it's crazy! We're getting Hermana Jaynes ready to train next transfer - can't believe my little trainee is growing up so fast!

Hope you all have a great week! Talk to you next Monday!

Love,

Hermana Granado

February 17, 2015

Hey family!

February is halfway over! How crazy is this! Time is going so fast! This week we did lots of service which was so fun! I love giving service in the community and helping all the people we teach, it's my favorite! Hopefully that will carry over after my mission.

This will probably be a short one because we don't have much time to email since yesterday was a holiday and all. Promise I'll try better next time.

We also had a really good zone meeting which helped us get refocused and doing the things that matter most in our areas to help those around us. Then this week we have Zone Conference coming up which is the meeting that our mission president is in charge of. So I'm sure we'll learn even more from him about the things we can do to keep the work going strong!

I don't think I can tell you guys enough how much I love the people here. That was hard for me at the beginning of my mission - to love the people. Especially because of the language barrier and the fact that I've just met them. But throughout my mission I've worked really really hard to learn Spanish to dissolve that barrier and be able to get to know them and I've prayed and asked Heavenly Father to be able to feel the love that He has for them. It has been such a cool experience to see and feel that prayer be answered. There are people here that I don't know very well and I don't spend much time with but I can just feel the pure love that God has for them and it is such a blessing to be able to feel that. I love my job and being able to talk to these people about the things that matter most in life is just such a great opportunity. 

Hermana Jaynes and I are doing well too, we're working hard to help her feel more comfortable in the area and talk with the people more so that they get to know and trust her too. I know we're companions for a reason and I know that every single companion I've had has been for a really good reason. There hasn't been one that I haven't learned from, even if it meant learning something about myself. I have loved all of my companions and I'm so blessed to have gotten to know them.

 

Love,

Hermana Granado

Since I always talk about my little English class, thought maybe you'd like to see the wonderful people we work with!