May 27, 2014

Hello family,

Thank you for all the encouraging words this week, I appreciate it more than you know! I am getting transferred out of Rialto. I am headed to PALM DESERT. Somehow I was expecting to go to the desert in the summer but I'm still in a little shock. I'm really sad to be leaving this area and all the people here. I've grown really attached to these families and I'm going to miss them a lot. But! I know I'll have new experiences and learn a lot in my new area. My new companion will be Hermana Thomas and we'll switch tomorrow morning. ​

 

Last Monday I woke up with a really bad ear ache. It was even worse the next day so I called the mission nurse and she made an appt for me to see a doctor on Wednesday. They told me I had a canal infection and gave me antibiotics and ear drops to use. I couldn't hear in my right ear for the majority of the week, which made for some interesting conversations with Hermana Lauaki-Sablan and some interesting lessons with our investigators who mumble. But now all is well!

 

I've been doing most of my packing yesterday and today, it's crazy how much stuff I have! And I can't seem to live without any of it. I don't have much time to write so I've put together a little week in pictures for you!​ I'm so sorry this is so short. I promise to do better in the future! Just know that I'm happy and healthy (now) and that I'm loving my mission. I'll be sure to give you the down low of the desert!

 

Love,

Hermana Granado

May 19, 2014

Hi Family, 

This week was a struggle. A lot is happening with our investigators to try and stop them from progressing. Satan is attacking hard! I feel as if I watched a family completely fall apart this week and it tears me up because I love them so much! I do have hope that they will have the strength to continue to center their lives on the Gospel because that is the only thing that can help them right now. 

I am seeing more and more clearly that the closer a person gets to accepting the gospel and coming closer to the Savior, the more challenges come into their lives. Even as missionaries we have a lot of challenges, a lot of hard times. And I'm pretty certain that it's because we're out here dedicating this time in our lives to bring others to Christ. That's the last thing Satan wants! But I think I've said it before that when we have hard times it just means that the blessings are right around the corner if we're faithful keep working for those blessings.

We had Zone Conference- which is all day (8 hours) with all the "head honchos" as Alannah put it- like the mission president, his wife, and the two assistants to the president, zone leaders and district leaders. LOTS of note taking and practicing teaching. It was good and I got a lot out of it. I have a lot to improve on as far as improving my teaching skills but I'm working hard!

This may or may not be my last week with Hermana Lauaki-Sablan (I'm hoping for the "may not") but we've been together for... almost 5 months now so we're thinking one of us will leave. More time with my best friend would be too good to be true!

Not much else happened this week...

I LOVE hearing from you all on Mondays, even though my replies may be short I love reading all about your weeks, so keep em coming!

The weather here has been warm and sunny! Just like home... Except at home I don't have to walk around all day in a skirt... so sometimes it gets to be a little much. We drink lots of water but then we have to make sure we get into a house so we can use their bathroom!

Next week the library is closed on Monday for Memorial Day so I'll probably be emailing on Tuesday. 

Love,

your California girl

Hermana Stephanie Granado

May, 12, 2014 - Long time, no talk!

 

It was so good to talk to you all yesterday. Nothing beats seeing you and hearing your voices. I love and miss you all more than you know but I also wouldn't want to be anywhere else at this time in my life. I just love it here in Rialto and I know I am here for a reason.

So glad you got to meet Joseph and his family. People like them are the whole reason I'm here. They are a golden family and we have seen them change so much! Joseph is on fire! He is taking more steps to get baptized and he even asked if we could go teach his friend! His friend lives in Redlands so we can't go there but we sent his address to the missionaries that are serving in that area. Then Joseph asked if he wanted his daughter to convert if he could be the one to baptize her. It is so cool to see how much he is growing and his desire to share that with the other people in his life that he cares about! This is what it's all about.

 

This week was definitely an interesting one. We went tracting on Wednesday. Our appointment with a less-active member fell through so we just decided to go knock on doors around their neighborhood. We got some really nice people! One of them spoke Spanish and was willing to let us come back another time to teach him so hopefully something good will come from that when we go back! Then it was almost time for our next appointment so we decided to knock on one more door. Well... let me tell you. It was interesting to say the least. She came out and ended up talking to us for half an hour. She had spent 32 years of her life preaching for a Christian church and was really proud of her knowledge. At first she thought we were Jehova's Witnesses and she kept telling us why what we believed was wrong. When we could finally get a word in to tell her that we weren't Jehova's Witnesses she asked what we were so we said we were from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She said "you're mormons?!" so we just nodded and she goes "oh my... that's even worse!" then she was even more excited to preach to us. After everything we walked away with a little more knowledge of her church and she said she'd pray for us so that we'd find the truth... it was definitely interesting.

 

This week we have Zone Conference which is pretty much just a training with our mission president and some of our other leaders in the mission. I am excited but I always get a little nervous because we never know when our mission president will call us up to do a role play and demonstrate teaching. I don't like all that attention!

 

We are going to try to take more pictures so I can send them to you. I hope you all have a great week and I love you all!

 

Love,

Hermana Granado

Happy Cinco de Mayo! 

Hey family, hope you're all doing well. Happy Cinco de Mayo! Can't believe it's May already!

 

First things first. I'm Skyping home on Sunday around 2 or 3pm. Auntie Debbie gave me her skype name and I will just call you guys then! Please make sure to have it open because I think I need you to accept me as a contact before I can call you.

 

This week was really good! We had a miracle this week! Our investigator, Joseph, has made incredible progress and we've seen a real change in him. I sent a picture of him a few weeks ago, he had a red shirt on I think, and some tattoos showing. We had a really good lesson on obedience with him and afterwards we felt like we should ask how HE felt he was progressing. We asked if he felt different and he said "It's funny you ask because just the other day someone was telling me how much I've changed." We asked him how he felt about his changes and he told us that he has become more family-oriented, that his whole life now is going to work, going to the gym, going to church and spending time with family. And he's happy with that! We praised him on all the changes we've seen in him and invited him to baptism again. This time, instead of saying he wanted more time or that he'd think about it, he said "Well, when were you guys thinking?" It was such a good lesson and discussion with him. He is happy with his life and doesn't feel the temptations to go back to his old life. We're going to set up an interview for him soon and then we will set a date for his baptism!

 

Then, the next day we were really disappointed with our other investigator. But that's the mission! It's a roller coaster but luckily, I feel like our days are more filled with good experiences than bad ones. I will never forget the bad experiences we have, because I am learning from them. But when I look back on earlier times of my mission I notice so many more good, uplifting experiences. Those are the ones that stick with me. Thank you much for your encouraging words and all your prayers. Keep 'em coming!

 

This week was and is very challenging for me. In a good way! They ask me to pray in at least one class on Sundays- never fails. But this Sunday I was asked to pray in Sacrament meeting! Then we were pulled in to teach a class to a group of teenagers for Sunday school. We were told just a few seconds before we were supposed to start teaching. Crazy stuff! Now our district leader, one of the elders in our ward, wants us to give a training tomorrow to the rest of the missionaries in our district. We're supposed to teach how to "teach people, not lessons." So needless to say I'm being challenged-big time!

The life of a missionary- we get honked at, whistled at, flipped off, doors slammed in our faces, holey shoes, sweaty faces, but at the end of the day it's ALL worth it.

 

Can't wait to talk to you all on Sunday! Love you!

 

Hermana Granado

APRIL 28, 2014

Hi family, this will probably be pretty short but this week was really good! Thank you for the emails and for keeping me in the loop with all of your exciting lives back home!

 

Thursday I had a really good talk with Hermana Lauaki-Sablan. I had been feeling pretty inadequate, which is not uncommon for me out here on the mission. My responsibility to be a representative of Jesus Christ and teach others the restored gospel is a huge responsibility! And I'm definitely not perfect. So when things go wrong or we don't have people to teach or when they reject our message, I tend to blame myself. I was feeling like I just needed to be better in every single aspect. I had started comparing myself to others which is never a good idea. Because if you compare yourself all the time, you're bound to fall short. So I came to the conclusion that if I'm going to compare myself, I need to compare myself with the old Stephanie. That way I can keep improving and I can see how much I've already grown. Which is a lot! So that's my new goal.

 

We picked up a new investigator this week. We found her just knocking on doors and she's so nice! Turns out her husband's last name is Granado and we spent quite some time the other day trying to figure out if we're related. I don't think we are...

Saturday we got to do a pretty big service project. We pulled out weeds from around two baseball fields at a park. Just just any weeds either! They were taller than me! But it was so fun to get out there and do something different. I absolutely LOVE doing service and I'm so glad we've gotten the chance to do service activities almost every week.

Yesterday was a really powerful sacrament meeting for me. I noticed that while we were singing at the beginning of the meeting, lots of people started to come into the chapel. It was investigators and less active members that were coming in a little late and it was so cool to see them walking in with their families as we were singing and bringing the Spirit into the meeting. Then I turned around and saw a member who has been very very sick for over a month. Members had been taking food to her family every day for a long time because she was so ill. She had been to the hospital multiple times and every time someone asked about her we would just hear "Ella esta muy mal." but when I saw her walking into the chapel with a walker and her daughters behind her, it was so powerful to me and really testified of the power of prayer. She thanked all the sisters for everything they had done for her and her family during this time and it was so good to see the ward working together and serving each other. I feel like, as a missionary, one of my goals is to bring these wards closer together. I'm going to leave but I want them to grow together and serve each other and really be like a family. So it was really good for me to see that this week.

 

I can't believe how fast the time is flying! I hit six months this week and it still feels like I just started. But that feeling probably won't ever go away. I am still learning and growing so much and I'm determined to take full advantage of the next year I have to be here in California and learn more about the gospel and myself. I LOVE being on a mission!

Love,

Hermana Granado

HAPPY EASTER! 

Hey family, hope everyone had a wonderful Easter! Ours was great here in Rialto. We were able to get into quite a few houses and share lots of messages about the Savior and His resurrection. This week, because of Easter, I made it a goal to spend part of my personal study every morning studying about the Savior. Although all the lessons are centered on the Savior and He is the center of our message, I wanted to go beyond His Atonement and Resurrection. I wanted to learn more about His life and who He was as a person. I spent a lot of time with the scriptures that our mission president sent us last week and I read quite a bit in Jesus the Christ. I feel like I now have a better idea of who Jesus Christ really was and I know more about His nature. I have come to know and love Him more and that alone has made me love missionary work more. With this greater understanding of the Savior I am more motivated and excited to go out and share His gospel. I still have a lot to learn but I am so grateful for this start of learning of our Redeemer and I really received a greater witness of Him through the Holy Ghost this week.

 

This week was probably my most successful week of my whole mission so far! Which is good because the last week was pretty hard. I've come to notice that when things get really hard and I start doubting myself and questioning if we'll ever have any success, that's when we're about to see some miracles! This week we had the most lessons we've ever had in this area and one of our investigators committed to be baptized in a few weeks. I'm so excited and have faith that we're going to start seeing the fruits of our labors! We just have to remember that when things don't look very promising or when we feel discouraged, we have to have faith and just hang in there. Keep working for those blessings!

 

We did some service for our investigator Joseph on Saturday. We and two of the elders and some members came and helped him fix up his yard. I was blowing dirt out of my nose for two days afterwards but it was worth it- he was so happy to see us and the members there ready and willing to help. He appreciated it a lot! I'll attach the picture we took after service. Also this week we helped a family catch some mice. They got mice in their kitchen and the wife is scared to go in there, well I guess we didn't really help but we were excited with the husband when we found out his traps worked! One day this week we're going over to help her clean out all the cabinets because she doesn't want to do it by herself. So that should be interesting!

It's what we're here for - to help :)

 

Yesterday we had dinner with one of the members and they gave us pepperoni pizza. Well they told us that the way they eat it is with jalapenos on it! So they put them on the table and said we could try it if we wanted but we didn't have to. Guys, I didn't know what I was missing! I put a jalapeno on every single bite I took, so good! I'll never be able to eat pizza the same. The mission and the dinners that the members give us are really changing my tastes. I can hardly eat anything without some salsa on it anymore. I am very lucky because being here in Californina I've gotten to try a lot of different kinds of food. I have had food from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Mexico... yum! The other day a member invited us over for breakfast and she made us a traditional breakfast from El Salvador. It was so good!

 

Love and miss you all so much!

 

Love,

Your California Girl

Hermana Granado

April 14, 2014 

Hola familia!

 

Hoy es el 14 de abril. Que rapido pasa el tiempo! Hermana Lauaki-Sablan y yo ya tenemos tres meses juntos en este barrio. A mi me encanta mi vida aqui en la mision.

 

Hermana Lauaki-Sablan and I are staying together! We're so excited!!!!! And this means you'll all get to meet her on Mother's Day when we Skype! Yay!!!!! :) One of the elders that I've known since my very first day here in California is going to be an Asistant to the mission president! We're so excited for him! The rest of us are staying so the five of us will get to continue working together for the next few weeks.

 

Other than that this week has been okay. It's had it's ups and downs just like any other week. We were dropped by one of our investigators on Thursday. Out of no where she sent us a text and said she didn't want us to come over anymore. No explaination or anything. So that was hard. Then we went to go visit another family who has been slowly backing away from us and we felt like they were closing up. They told us that they didn't want to see us anymore either because they just don't have time. When I pointed out that they were all home and we could share a very short message she made excuse after excuse and said they'd just see us at church when they can go. (They haven't been to church in over a month). So we were pretty discouraged this week. But we know there are people out there that are ready and willing to listen to our message! We just have to find them!

 

We volunteered at the Bishop's Storehouse on Saturday and it was a good experience. I ran into a couple members from my old ward in Fontana- so good to see them!

 

Yesterday I had the chance to speak in Sacrament meeting in my ward. They told us on Thursday who was speaking and it was one from each companionship. So me and two of the elders spoke. I was so nervous because I still don't feel like my Spanish is very good and I didn't have much time to prepare a talk. But when I went up there I was able to just talk and didn't read hardly any of my notes. It was so cool to feel the spirit and be able to say the things that the members needed to hear. My spanish is improving. Slowly but surely, it's getting there!

 

Hope everyone has a great week, please continue to pray for us and that we'll be lead to the people that need the gospel! I'm SOOOOOOO HAPPY that I get some more time here. I feel like my work here isn't done. I love the members and I love the missionaries that are here. I am trying to take as much advantage of this time that I possibly can!

 

The picture I'm including is with the Espindola family. Hermana Espindola is in charge of our dinner calendar and trying to get members to feed us every night. When no one signs up or when they cancel or forget, which has been happening quite a bit, Hermana Espindola will usually have us over to eat with them. So we've gotten to spend quite a few dinners with this wonderful family :) they're so good to us!

 

Love,

Hermana Granado

 

A little Easter message https://www.lds.org/topics/easter?lang=eng&query=easter