June 30, 2014

Hey family,

Today is my eight month mark! So that means that a month from now, on July 30th, it will be exactly half way through my mission! Crazy! Your nine month mark is a pretty big deal, especially for us sisters because it's your half way mark and everything just seems to fly by even faster after that. or so I've heard. But a little something cool for me is that July 30th is actually the anniversary of the day that I got baptized! So my nine month mark as a missionary and my 3 year mark as a member all in one day! It's going to be pretty special :)

This week was a good one! We all got a little chance to talk to our mission president for a couple minutes which was good. He helped me a lot and answered some questions I had about how I could be better.

We also got the chance to attend the Palm Desert Stake Conference, that is just where the leaders here in the local wards get to speak and I love it because I feel like I learn so much!

Last Monday was CRAZY because we had two lessons scheduled during the time that we have to prepare for the week. Every Monday is when we do laundry, wash the car, clean the apartment, write home, shop for food, and anything else we need to do. Then at 5 we're back to work. So needless to say that time is precious and is packed with things we need to do. But last week we also had to make time to teach two lessons because those people weren't available at any other time during the week. It was such a blessing to be able to help them and sacrifice that time. But man were we running all day!

Next week we will get transfer news, these six weeks have sure gone by fast! I'm pretty sure I'll be staying here since I just arrived but we'll see what happens! I'm really close with my roommates so I hope they stay as well.

Oh! I have a story. Yesterday we went to go visit a few people but none of them were home or opened the door for us. Since we didn't have anything else set, we decided to just walk around and see if we could find anyone outside to talk to (which hasn't been very successful lately considering the heat) but nevertheless we braved the scorching temps and walked. And walked. And walked. And finally we saw a lady watering her plants or washing something out, so we went up to her and asked if she needed any help. She looked up at us and furiously said, "Help? Washing this out? Are you crazy or just stupid?!" I couldn't think of anything else to say except to offer our help with anything that she needed, she said a few more things and we ended up just walking away before we made her more angry with our willingness to serve. But I'm glad we tried to talk to her!

Speaking of the heat, It's supposed to get up to 115 on Wednesday where I'm at. Wish me luck!

Not much else to report on... any fun plans for the 4th of July? Send pictures!

Love and miss you all!

Pictures:

Me with my companion, Hermana Thomas and Me and Nadia who I taught in Rialto and was baptized last week! :)

Love,

Hermana Granado

June 23, 2014

Hey family,

It's officially summer! I don't have a lot of time. I took some pictures but forgot the cord so... next week!

Some things that happened this week... Remember how in my last email I talked about Nadia? She is the daughter of the lady who wasn't interested but then we gave her info on a place for rent and she asked us to come back. Well she got baptized this week! And I got to go! Which doesn't always happen, especially when you're as far away as I am. I had to get special permission to leave my area, I had to find a member that was willing to drive me to Redlands (more than and hour away) and we had to find someone to stay with Hermana Thomas and work in our area for the day. But thankfully we got all of that done and I was able to go! It was the first time I had seen in person someone that I taught get baptized. It was such a good experience for me to know that I helped her in some little way to get to where she is now. I love her and told her mom that they better invite me back when she gets baptized :)

It was my roommates birthday so the 4 of us went to Panda Express to celebrate. When we walked in we saw a guy and as soon as he saw us he goes "Hey sisters, how are you?" so we talked to him for a minute and he offered to buy us lunch. We thought that was a little too generous since there were 4 of us but he insisted. Then while we were eating I saw him walk by us and I said "thank you again, we really appreciate it!" then I saw something was in his hand and he goes "here, $50 each" and hands us gift cards! So crazy generous. We couldn't stop talking about it afterward! What a blessing.

We had some sad experiences this week too, not a lot of people are coming to church. Even the investigators who are really progressing and learning a lot and really want to change, they're not coming to church which is really sad for us. But we're going to keep working with them and hopefully we can help them to see the importance of it. Then yesterday we went to this house that we got as a referral, which just means that some missionaries talked to a person and they were interested about learning more but those missionaries aren't assigned to where the person lives so they get the person's address and it gets sent to the missionaries in that area. So we had never met this person but we were told that he was interested in learning more about the gospel. Well, when we got there he wasn't home so the lady there told us to come back in about 20 minutes. We went to go visit some other people that lived close by and decided to go back about 25 or 30 minutes later. When we knocked on the door the same lady said she would go check if he was home but someone else said "Who even are these people and why to they keep coming?!" so she came up to the door and goes "Who are you?!" so we explained who we are and why we were there and she said that she is his wife and that we needed to leave. So we asked if there was a better time we could come back and she gave us a not so nice response and closed the door on us. It's not the worst thing that has ever happened to missionaries but we were sad. But then we decided to walk around and ran into some really nice people who were willing to talk to us! So that was a blessing.

Can't think of much else that happened this week except that it was hot. Really hot. Welcome to summer in the desert! We walk by a swimming pool at least 5 times a day and I'd kill to go swimming right now!

We have interviews with our mission president this week, which I'm excited about. We each get a one-on-one time to sit down with our mission president, ask any questions we have, get advice or help on anything we need and just talk about whatever we're struggling with or would like to improve. The only one I've had was when I was five weeks out so I didn't really know what to do or say or ask. But know I have a ton of things I need help with and so I'm excited for that chance to talk to him.

Also, do you guys remember Haley Stewart? My roommate in college? She left on a mission on Wednesday! She's in the missionary training center in Provo, UT then she's going to the Spokane, Washington mission. She's so excited and I know she's going to do great!

Love you all and talk to you next week!

Love,

Hermana Granado

June 16, 2014

This week was good! Well, mostly good. Not a lot of our investigators came to church which made us really sad. And on Saturday I got a touch of heat exhaustion so I got really sick to my stomach and had a headache so we had to come home so I could rest a little bit. But I ate and got my electrolytes up and was okay to go  back out that night! I'm drinking tons of water but I guess my electrolytes just dropped too low...

Me and Hermana Thomas are working well together and learning to combine our strengths to help those we're teaching. When she goes on exchanges once a week I am companions with Hermana Magnusson - I will try to take pictures this week so you can put faces to names! I don't have much time but my bishop from Arizona asked me to write a letter to the youth about the ups and downs of missionary work so I will send that to you. You've already heard some of these stories but... enjoy!

Bishop,

The experience of being on a mission is nothing like I ever imagined and way more than I hoped for. It is the best and most challenging 7 1/2 months of my life thus far. Every day is something new and brings new challenges and new blessings.

We never really know what is going to happen when we step out of the door- one time we knocked on a door and a man opened the window of the bathroom while he was showering to tell us that who we were looking for wasn't there... Another time a man proposed to me on the street and while I was bearing my testimony that God loves him, he replied saying that if God really loved him, He would bless him with me as his wife... there are just some things we don't have answers for.

Then there are times when you think this might just be the hardest thing you'll ever do (because it is). Like when your "golden" investigator goes back to praying to saints. Or when they say they don't want you to come over anymore because they're going back to their own religion. When your investigator cancels their baptism and moves away without telling you. Or when your favorite family goes through something like a teenage pregnancy and it tears them apart. There are things we can't control that will break our hearts and make us wonder if we're making a difference.

Then there are times that give us those answers. That tell us that we are absolutely making a difference in these people's lives. I remember one night after dinner we got in the car and my trainer told me to pick who I thought we should go see. I sat there for a second trying to think who we had planned to visit that night but I just thought, let's try Veronica. She hadn't been home the last 5 times we tried to visit her so I was a little hesitant not wanting to waste time and I knew we weren't close to her house, but she was who came to mind so we just went. When we got there we realized we had forgotten the video we were going to show them. We didn't have a backup plan but knocked on the door anyway and someone answered! Well a little boy looked through the window and yelled "it's the church girls!" and Veronica came and opened the door. She and her husband are members but haven't been to church in a few years and their three sons have not been baptized. The minute we sat down she started telling us that not 10 minutes before we knocked on the door their youngest son, who is 9 years old, was asking if he could get baptized and what he needed to do to be baptized. Then we knocked on the door. She started crying and said that it never fails, whenever they need help or they're going through something the missionaries come by. It meant a lot to her that we were there and we set a date for all three boys to be baptized and the family came to church the next day for the first time in a long, long time. So cool to know that I can be that person for someone else, to help them when they need it. And that while I was sitting in the car trying to think of where to go, and she came into my mind, her son was asking what he needed to do to get baptized and she was wondering how to help him. Heavenly Father is mindful of EVERY ONE of His children. He loves us so much (the three boys are now baptized).

Another time, we were talking to one of our investigator families and the mom was on the verge of dropping us and going back to the Catholic church but she didn't because she said that when she looks into my eyes she can feel the love of God. What a blessing to be called and set apart as His servant to help others feel that love!

That same night I had forgotten my planner (don't ever do that) and since we were both new in the area we went to the only other place we knew how to get to. As we parked we noticed a "for rent" sign next door so we remembered that one of our street contacts was looking for a place to rent. We wrote down the information and went to visit the person we came for. The next day we went to that street contact to give her the rent information. When she opened the door she started saying every reason in the book why she didn't want to see us anymore. We told that was fine but that we had some information on a place to rent since we knew she was looking. Her entire face changed, she took the information and we were able to keep teaching her. Her daughter is getting baptized next week and she will follow soon. People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.

This mission is totally different than what I expected. It is so challenging and it pushes me to my very limit! But it is so worth it. I am helping people gain eternal salvation! Why would I ever want to miss out on this opportunity? I am grateful everyday for the decision I made to serve a mission and I wouldn't rather be anywhere else at this time!

Love,

Hermana Granado 

June 9, 2014

Hi family!

I didn't get the chance to reply to many of you and when I did it was short but I have a good reason- I got lots of emails! Thank you so so so much for all the updates. I LOVE hearing from all of you. Keep em coming

This week was difficult but towards the end I started to feel like I'm getting the hang of it, slowly but surely. Hermana Thomas goes on exchanges once a week and leaves me here with a different girl to be my companion and I have to take charge, so I'm sure that will help me learn more about the area and the people. t's hard to remember in the moment but it's the hard times that help us learn. I wouldn't be who I am if it weren't for the hard times in my past and I wouldn't be able to grow into the person that Heavenly Father has designed me to be if I didn't have hard times now. I love my companion, Hermana Thomas. She knows so much about missionary work and teaching and the area and everything! I have a ton to learn from her.

We attended a funeral last week, a less-active family in the ward lost their son. It was very unexpected and the family was inconsolable. He left one night with his friend and never came home. He got into the wrong crowd and was in the wrong place and the wrong time. We've seen them since and they would like us to start visiting them regularly to help them. They are such a great family!

We also started teaching a woman here who is very ill. She hasn't told us what she has but she is my height a weighs 75 pounds. She has had test after test after test and they have come to the conclusion that it is a very rare disease but that's all they know.

We have some other people we are teaching and they are so solid! They have a sincere desire to learn and know the truth and they are willing to act to find out for themselves! The only thing is that Satan is also working on them. A few of our most golden investigators have been going through a lot the past week, right when they've started to work towards being baptized. So we are still reaching out to them and helping them with anything they need. Good things are going to start happening here! I can feel it!

I'm not sure if I told you in my last email but we have roommates! Their names are Sister Mucke from Germany and Sister Tauteoli from Redlands, CA... And I thought I was close to home! They are English speaking sisters and they are so great! Sister Mucke is finishing up her mission and sister Tauteoli is just starting. They all  borrow my clothes, including my companion so there was a day where four of my skirts were being worn at once, talk about efficient!

Time to hit the road! Love you and miss you lots! Talk to you all next week.

Love,

Hermana Granado

June 2, 2014

Hi family,

So, my new area is the Thermal Ward, it is in the Palm Desert stake. I live in Indio and we cover Indio, Cochella, Bermuda Dunes, Mecca and some other city I don't remember. Basically, it's hot! My companion, Hermana Thomas, said that this is the hottest little pocket of the mission. Lucky me! (My address is still the same, it will go to the mission office and I'll get it from there.)

Wednesday morning Hermana Lauaki-Sablan and I went to the mission office. There I met two other girls going to the desert so we carpooled and Hermana Lauaki-Sablan got her new companions and went back to work. It was about an hour drive out to Indio. When I got here the first thing we did was eat some lunch then we were off to work! No time to unpack or adjust, time to share the gospel!

My first day here we did 4 hours of planning and Hermana Thomas told me all about the people we'll be teaching and visiting. Information overload. Then we had a couple appointments and guess what? We set dates with two people to get baptized! Two baptismal dates in one day. Plus all the planning we did. That's a successful day if I've ever seen one.

One of the people we set a baptismal date with is named Lucy. She is so golden it's crazy. The first time I went over to have a lesson with her, we walked in and she had her Book of Mormon on the table along with a pamphlet we gave her and a notebook and pen to take notes. She also had two cold bottles of water waiting for us where she wanted us to sit. When we invited her to be baptized she was so excited and wanted to do it as soon as possible! It's the first time I've met someone that is so ready and so excited about the gospel.

My new companion has been out about a year and she is a sister training leader which means she goes on exchanges every week with other sisters. Remember when I went with another girl for a day? Now I'll be doing that almost every week! Which means a lot more pressure on me but that's okay. She's a great missionary and really teaches well. She's been in this area for 10 months so all the people love her! And she knows the area which is a perk for me because we don't have a GPS. I'm going to try to learn all I can from her!

I am serving in the ward with two elders, Elder Miller and Elder Fails. Elder Miller was my district leader in Fontana when I started my mission so he's the only one I already knew. Hermana Pesquera and Hermana Zamora are the other missionaries in our ward.

Saturday we had a really cool activity at church, it was called Super Sabado (or super Saturday) and it was just to teach all the women little tips and tricks around the house. We learned how to decorate cakes, how to clean ceiling fans without getting dust everywhere, and how to get gum out of hair. It was fun and a good way for me to start getting to know the members little by little.

Love,

Hermana Granado

P.S. I'm attaching some pictures of saying goodbye to my favorites!

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